Jessica Morgan
University of North Dakota
We see them all the time. Homeless people sit at street corners, holding signs, and asking for money or food. We may look at them, choose to ignore, or choose to give, but for many of the homeless, this has become their way of life.
The reason I chose this topic was because of my recent volunteer work with the Salvation Army and Thrift Store in Grand Forks. I have seen people in desperate situations and heard some stories while working with community service members during my time at the Salvation Army. I also personally worked with a homeless man every day at the Salvation Army. He was in his 50’s, tall, gray hair and a large build. He always wore layers of clothes which appeared dirty and worn. He never mentioned to me that he was homeless, but it was told …show more content…
During the Great Depression, jobs were lost, and the rates of homeless again, increased throughout America. Natural Disasters are another factor in the homelessness problem. The Great Chicago Fire, The San Francisco earthquake, the massive flooding of the Mississippi in the 1920s from Ohio through New Orleans displaced over 1.3 million people. The Drought of the 30s in Oklahoma and Texas, Hurricane Katrina, are just a few examples of disasters that affected millions of people’s households. The snowball effect of unemployment and poverty attribute to homelessness. People living in generational poverty, for example, may not have the knowledge or resources to become educated and move out of poverty. People living in generational poverty do not have the resources and support to become educated and move out of poverty. In 2011, the official rate of poverty in America was 15.0%, which is 46.2