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Theresa's Tidbits - Homelessness society’s biggest problem
Theresa Seraphim
for Spotlight
We see them every day on our streets, not only in large cities but also in small towns. They wander around all day and then, with no place to sleep, will find a shelter of some sort for the night. Sometimes that leads to violence and even death.
But what else is a homeless person to do?
The government of Alberta made a commitment to spend $3.3 billion to end homelessness by 2019. Yet, according to CBC News, there are now 3,000 homeless people in Edmonton – an 18 per cent rise over 2007 numbers.
Initiatives such as soup kitchens began as a temporary response to those who do not have a place to live, and now find themselves having to fill the gap more and more, with fewer and fewer donations and volunteers. Perhaps governments looked at that and thought, “They’ll do our work for us.”
The fact that the government doesn’t seem able to eradicate the problem, and that soup kitchens and shelters don’t have enough resources to attend to all the people needing them, says one thing: homelessness is a well-entrenched, multi-dimensional problem.
The solution to this problem lies in co-operation between government and social agencies, using the best measures to get to the common goal of getting rid of homelessness.
It’s not an easy task. Saying, “Give this person some food” is one thing, but the person will get hungry again – and will still have no place to live.
This is where co-operation is needed, from many areas: employment (a person who doesn’t have a job is more than likely to be homeless), housing (the cost of a place to live can mean some people have to choose between a roof over their head or food in their bellies), and education (having enough schooling, as everyone knows, increases the chances of getting a job), to name a few.
While some people believe the homeless bring their situation upon themselves, that is not the case with all homeless people.
It’s important to remember what the experts have said – that any of us is only one or two paycheques away from living on the street, and needing that soup kitchen.
Nobody should be homeless. Bearing that in mind, let us encourage all those dealing with the homeless to come together.
It’s the only way to get rid of one of society’s most frustrating, unnecessary and heart-breaking problems.
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