Homeless in America: Safe Housing for All!

As one of the richest countries in the world, how are nearly 600,000 people experiencing homelessness on a daily basis? Shockingly, 30% of these people are families with children (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2021). In Philadelphia alone, there are over 6,000 people every night sleeping in the street, cars, abandoned buildings, train/bus stations, and other uninhabitable locations. On average, over 7,000 children and youth in Philadelphia experience homelessness per year (Project Home, 2020). It is evident that homeless is an issue throughout the United States, but even more so in our own backyard. We tend to forget that the city we live in suffers just as great, if not more than other cities, when it comes to homelessness.

While Philadelphia is home to some of the most prestigious neighborhoods such as Rittenhouse Square and Chestnut Hill, we also must remember that it is also home to such neighborhoods as Fairhill and Hunting Park, in which homelessness commonly resides. It is easy to forget about homeless people when we are just going about our daily lives, but in Philadelphia there is a constant reminder as we drive or walk down the street seeing those with signs or sleeping on sidewalks or benches. The world just celebrated World Homeless Day on October 12, 2021, to bring awareness and form online discussions between people working to combat homelessness throughout the world (World Homeless Day, 2021). Even though it is wonderful that such individuals are being recognized and discussed on World Homeless Day, we cannot forget about these individuals daily.

References

Homelessness in Philadelphia. Project HOME. (2020, October 8). Retrieved from

https://www.projecthome.org/homelessness-in-philadelphia.

State of Homelessness: 2021 edition. National Alliance to End Homelessness. (2021, August 16).

Retrieved from https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-2021/.

World Homeless Day 10/10/21. (2021). Retrieved from http://www.worldhomelessday.org/.