How Do Personal Problems Intertwine with Public Issues?

How do personal problems intertwine with public issues?

In this paper I am going to talk about how personal problems intertwine with public issues. The example I am going to use is homelessness. I am going to talk about all the different types of homelessness, the causes of homelessness, and also examples of homelessness I see around me every day. I will also talk about my personal experiences in this subject I have dealt with in my own life.

For many years now homelessness has been an issue not only in the United States, but around the world. No matter if you are living on the streets, in a shelter, or even in assisted housing of some kind, it is defined as being homeless. According to Jeanty (1999), "The National Coalition for the homeless showed a population of 30,000 to 7,000,000 homeless people in the United States as of 1995". The reasons for becoming homeless vary from working low wage jobs, not being able to receive public assistance, and even having mental health issues. But the real main issue that causes a person to be homeless mostly is poverty. According to Jeaty(1999), there are also theories that say that personal problems cause homelessness such as: not wanting to work, excessive substance abuse, and poor money management skills. Also growing up many could have been struggling all there life and they don't know any other way to live, but in the low income branch of living. Many may be uneducated where they can't get a great job to support their family and also be able to have a roof over their head. So therefore they live in a shelter, on the streets, or if they are lucky like I stated earlier they may find some kind of assisted housing in the town they live in. if you are a veteran of the military there is programs through the veteran affairs which they provide housing for you or your family to live in. But along with the housing the VA provides counseling to get you and your family back on your feet. They assist you in job searches and how to get you back living on your own.

University of Richmond (2003) statistics show that in 1996 many homeless people went without food for parts of a month. These people also faced deprivation and constant threat of harm. Many homeless people end up in jail for theft or trespassing, because they have no place to go or they are so hungry they will do anything to get some food to eat. It is said in that 60 % of single men make up the homeless population; about seventy percent of the population lives in central cities. One-fourth of the homeless have been homeless for over five years. (University of Richmond,2003).

Jeanty (1999) states that: The different types of homelessness are put into three different categories: Transitional, which is those people who only been homeless one time for under 59 days. Episodic is those people who have been homeless four or five times for less than 266 days. Chronic is those who have been homeless at least two times for up to 650 days total.

How to prevent these people from being homeless is by providing low cost housing, cheap health care, mental health