Homelessness – Study material

Homelessness – Study material

Homelessness is the condition and social category of people without a regular house or dwelling because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing. Street people are the segment of the homeless who spend time on the streets in urban areas.

The term homelessness may also include people whose primary residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides food a home to support the homeless so that they can live with temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

The major reasons and causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:

• Unavailability of employment opportunities.
• Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment.
• Lack of affordable healthcare.
• War or armed conflict.
• Mental disorder, where mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access.
• Disability, especially where disability services are nonexistent or poor performing.
• Substance abuse.
• Lack of affordable housing.
• Domestic violence.
• Relationship breakdown, particularly in relation to young people and their parents.
• Prison release and re-entry into society.
• Natural disaster, including but not limited to earthquakes and hurricanes.

Types of homelessness:

• Short-Term Houselessness: When a traumatic event occurs such as a house fire or natural disaster, people with positive relational resources, solid inner resources & sufficient physical resources are able to recover in a short period of time, usually within 30 days.
• Long-Term Houselessness: Much like Short-Term Houselessness, the loss of a house is the result of an unforeseen event, except in this situation the people who are affected have modest physical resources which lengthens the amount of time it takes to recover, sometimes up to 120 days. 
• Permanently Supported Homelessness: The Permanently-Supported Homeless population lacks both relational & inner resources due to mental or physical disability & must rely upon outside resources to provide the goods & services needed to sustain life. 
• Near Homelessness: Those in the Near Homeless category have overextended their personal support systems, which keeps them on the brink of homelessness. Literally “one paycheck away from homelessness,” these folks cannot withstand any type of setback. The loss of a job, roommate, or vehicle can easily push them over the edge. 
• Self-Induced Homelessness: Self-induced homeless persons reject their relational resources by refusing to cooperate or submit to any form of authority. As a result, they are unable to maintain housing, employment or any type of productive relationship. 
• Environmentally Dysfunctional Homelessness: This segment of the homeless population has experienced a series of traumatic events, often a result of the toxic environment in which they were exposed. Broken, dysfunctional or non-existent relational resources have severely weakened their inner resources making it almost impossible for them to sustain the physical resources needed for stability. War Veterans can fall into this type of homelessness when their inner resources are unable to withstand the traumatic events of war.

Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable lives. Supportive housing works well for those who face the most complex challenges—individuals and families confronted with homelessness and who also have very low incomes and/or serious, persistent issues that may include substance abuse, addiction or alcoholism, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or other serious challenges to a successful life.

Problems faced by people who are homeless:

• Discrimination against the homeless
• Need for personal shelter, warmth and safety.
• Personal security, quiet, and privacy.
• Safekeeping of bedding, clothing and possessions, which may have to be carried at all times.
• Hygiene and sanitary facilities.
• Cleaning and drying of clothes.
• Obtaining, preparing and storing food in quantities.
• Keeping contacts, without a permanent location or mailing address.
• Hostility and legal powers against urban vagrancy.
• Reduced access to health care and dental services.
• Limited access to education.
• Increased risk of suffering from violence and abuse.
• Loss of usual relationships with the mainstream.
• Not being seen as suitable for employment.
• Reduced access to banking services.
• Reduced access to communication technology. 

There are many places where a homeless person might seek refuge: 

• Outdoors: On the ground or in a sleeping bag, tent, or improvised shelter, such as a large cardboard box, dumpster, in a park or vacant lot.
• Shantytowns: Ad hoc campsites of improvised shelters and shack.
• Derelict structures: abandoned or condemned buildings.
• Squatting in an unoccupied house where a homeless person may live without payment and without the owner's knowledge or permission.
• Vehicles: cars or trucks are used as a temporary or sometimes long-term living refuge, for example by those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in vans, sport utility vehicles, covered pick-up trucks, station wagons, sedans, or hatchbacks .
• Public places: Parks, bus or train stations, public libraries, airports, public transportation vehicles, hospital lobbies or waiting areas, college campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as coffee shops.
• Homeless shelters.
• Inexpensive boarding houses: Also called flophouses, they offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.
• Residential hotels, where a bed as opposed to an entire room can be rented cheaply in a dorm-like environment.
• Inexpensive motels also offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.

Adjusted to: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness
http://www.innercitymission.net/AboutHomelessness/TypesofHomelessness/tabid/120/Default.aspx