Homelessness in South Carolina
by Alyssia Lucas
What being homeless really means
to be homeless is the state or condition of having no home, especially the state of living in the streets. (www.ask.com)
problem with homelessness
over 4,701 people are homeless in South Carolina.
too many people are living on the streets and they could get diseases and die from sickness and starvation.
children that are homeless have no education (www.mentorsinternational.org)
Causes of homelessness
some of the causes of homelessness are in families. Lack of affordable housing, poverty, and in unemployment. The greatest causes of homelessness in people who are single or dont live with or have family are substance abuse, lack of affordable housing, and mental illness. The one leading cause of homelessness is substance abuse. They can get drugs cheap on the streets (black market) and they will soon get addicted to it and keep harming themselves. (www.pbs.org)
Effects of homelessness
The effects of being homeless can be very sad and sometimes, it can even be fatal. Being homeless and living on the streets can draw attention to people or gangs. They can tell that the person is helpless and cant do anything about it. So they decide to abuse them. There are more than 600 attacks on homeless people each year. Homeless people have been brutally attacked with baseball bats, chains, and many other weapons. (www.dosomething.org)
Some solutions to ending homelessness
Some solutions to being homeless are to keep an emergency shelter open 24 hours a day. The shelter can handle a little over 240 guests. The homeless are not allowed to leave the perimeter though. A police officer patrols around the shelter to make sure that nobody bad tries to get in and that the homeless people dont try to leave. Losing jobs and homes can easily be fixed with affordable housing assistance and more education. Its not a "bulletproof" solution but its better than nothing. (www.thinkprogress.org)