In America the amount of people being homeless has skyrocketed. Out of about 350,000,000, roughly 650,000 people have experienced homelessness. Since 2022 the number of homeless people has went up 12%. What can we as human beings do to help these people get off the streets?

    Community Shelter Board states, there were 2,380 people identified experiencing homelessness in Columbus and Franklin County, Ohio. This marks a 1.8% increase since January of 2023. In Central Ohio homelessness is at an all time high. The reason for this is because job loss and unemployment. According to Arlington Life Shelter, “Many are underemployed at wages that can’t sustain them. Layoffs and job cuts leave individuals and families in desperate circumstances. Unemployment benefits and savings run out, leaving people homeless who never thought it could happen to them.” 

     Human Rights Careers mentions, that there are 10 root causes for homelessness. Starting with stagnant wages, while the cost of living goes up your paychecks don’t. In the United States the minimum wage has gone up around 350% since 1970. The Consumer Price index has risen by over 480%. Without the ability to save money, an unexpected expense can destroy a humans income. Low wages keeps people stuck in poverty and more vulnerable to homelessness. While low wages add to homelessness, unemployment also plays a significant role. Once a person is unemployed for a while, they can easily go into homelessness. Studies show that homeless people want to work but they face issues, such as not having a permanent address. Next is lack of affordable housing. A global survey from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy that out of 200 polled big cities, 90% were named unaffordable. Without affordable housing people find themselves with limited options. It becomes more difficult to find housing near a place with job opportunities or in a low crime neighborhood. Healthcare is very expensive, but many people are uninsured or underinsured. This results in spending tons of cash on healthcare while struggling to pay for rent, food, and household bills. One injury or accident can quickly shove a family into homelessness. On a global scale, poverty is one of the most reasons for homelessness. Being unable to afford essentials like housing,

food, education, and more greatly increases a person’s or family’s risk. To address homelessness effectively, governments and organizations need to address poverty. The two-way connection between mental health, addiction, and homelessness is clear. In the U.S., around 30% of “chronically homeless” people have mental health conditions. In 2017, the National Coalition for the Homeless discovered that 38% of homeless people depend on alcohol. 26% depend on other addicting substances. In the United States, racial minorities experience homelessness at a higher rate than the white population. According to research from the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, African Americans are three times more likely to lose their residence. The reasons why are based in racial inequalities such as racial discrimination in housing and incarceration. Women and children are especially vulnerable to violence related homelessness. To escape domestic violence, people will flee their homes without a plan. If they don’t have a place to stay or a friend to stay with, they can end up living in vehicles, homeless shelters, or on the streets. Closely related to domestic violence, conflict with relatives can also lead people to homelessness. This is especially true for the LGBTQ+ community. According to the True Colors Fund, 1.6 million young LGBTQ+ civilians end up homeless each year. This population is also at an increased risk for homelessness at a younger age. While homelessness can occur because of an individual’s or family’s circumstances, we cannot disregard the systemic failures. Failures in areas like correctional services, healthcare services, and child welfare are very usual. 

     According to the School of Social Policy & Practice, they predicted that the national population of Americans 65 and older is expected to increase from 40,000 to 106,000 by 2030. They gathered this information based on the spike of homelessness in the past 30 years of previous data. At the moment California holds the title for having the highest number people homeless. They have over 180,000 homeless people, 31.96% of them are in shelters, which means over 60% of those are living on the streets.. This is most likely because of their expensive price of living; their median home value comes in at $715,900 according to Lendingtree. 

    One of the biggest issues with the United States is that they manage to allow veterans live on the streets after they served wars for our beloved country. As of 2024, there are at least 40,000 living without a place to stay. In Ohio alone there are over 600 homeless veterans. You would think since they’ve fought so heavily for our country that the government would at least reward them for their service and provide them with a place to eat, sleep, and give them the physical and mental resources that they deserve. Not only do we have veterans on the streets, we also have children homeless as well. One in every 30 United States children goes to sleep without a home of his or her own each year. According to School on Wheels, approximately 2.5 million children are homeless annually in the US. On any given day, there are approximately 443,000 children in foster care in the United States. This is getting out of hand, and the United States government needs to figure something out before it becomes even worse. 

     On average 46,500 people die PEH (People Experiencing Homelessness) related deaths each year. This is because homeless people can’t keep themselves healthy in natures elements and they most likely will die of starvation or dehydration. They also can’t keep up with their hygiene and often get infections of some sort that eventually leads to death. Many other reasons for homelessness people dying vary from heart problems to some type of cancer. People who become homeless, their life expectancy drops to only 50 years of age. 

    Throughout time people have discovered that it is much more easier to become homeless than get out of it. Once a person is homeless it can be a struggle for them to get back on their feet. It can often take a person 5-15 years to get off the streets. They often don’t have a place to go back to because they either don’t have any family and friends, or most of them turned their backs on them and decided not to help. Only 0.3% of homeless people make it to shelters. Some churches and other foundations help, but most of time time when you call they say they are either fully loaded with people or they are out of funds to help. The constant price hike in housing doesn’t help either. Since 2023 the cost of living has increased 3.2% with the median cost for a house at around $400,000 in the US. Because of this increase in housing it has caused many to end up searching for shelter on the streets.

     So, what can the US do to decrease the amount of civilians without a roof over their head. The Biden-Harris administration announced a new initiative to tackle unsheltered homelessness. The President’s Fiscal Year ‘24 Budget proposes unprecedented investments not only to urgently uncover homelessness but also to reduce the number of people living on the streets, including through additional housing vouchers; emergency rental assistance; increasing the supply of affordable housing; and establishing a guarantee of rental assistance for extremely low-income veterans and youth aging out of foster care—two groups disproportionately at risk of and experiencing homelessness. With this new plan hopefully the US can come together and help these innocent citizens find new homes.