A recent America Magazine editorial addresses homelessness:
While most people think of homelessness in terms of single men, roughly a third of the homeless population is made up of families, many of them headed by single parents. Families represent an especially vulnerable segment of the homeless population because of the presence of children. Advocates for the homeless point out that the disruption in the lives of children from living in shelters can lead to such health problems as respiratory and intestinal infections, along with psychological trauma. Their overall health status is far worse than that of children in homes. The trauma can be exacerbated when family members must separate upon entering shelters, with fathers and older male children often sent to shelters for men. Hardest of all is the fact that because of “lack of resources,” 86 percent of families may be turned away. Little wonder that families have resorted to sleeping in cars, under bridges or in wooded areas.
Adding to the struggles of homeless people is a strong sentiment against them. This has led to municipal ordinances that punish homeless people primarily because they have no stable housing. Aimed at banishing them from public places, statutes of this kind prohibit begging, lying down, sitting or “loitering.” Las Vegas offers an example. In July 2006 it passed an ordinance that makes sharing food with destitute or homeless people in public places a crime. Violation of the statute can be punishable by up to six months in jail. Nevada’s A.C.L.U. has filed a federal suit against Las Vegas, claiming that the ordinance violates the constitutional right to free assembly and free speech.
Homelessness is a solvable national problem, but the needed resources have not been forthcoming from the federal government.
Nobody has an obligation to help homeless people, but for the government to make laws that outlaw helping them seems absurdly atrocious. Regardless of these laws, let’s put an end to homelessness, a preventable problem.
Passive indignation cannot suffice. We must actively work to get homes for the poor innocent children who suffer on the brutal streets of America. These children cannot grow into healthy, happy, self-sufficient adults if they grow up in such devastating conditions. We all benefit by helping put an end to this preventable problem.
What do you think?