Homelessness: What Causes It and How to Combat It
Updated: Nov 2, 2022
As we all know, homelessness is a growing problem in many cities across the United States which can cause huge economic harm to all involved. So the questions are:
1. What causes homelessness?
2. Are there solutions that work?
The PragerU video entitled "Homelessness:The Reality and the Solution" explores the root causes of homelessness. It also gives real-life examples of cities that have significantly reduced their homeless population while at the same time have given a genuine helping hand-up to those caught up in homelessness, enabling those who want to rejoin society as productive citizens to do so.
Alcohol and drug addiction are often a real part of those adults who are caught up in homelessness but in a recent article entitled "This is how California could better approach the homelessness crisis, homeless advocate says" Jeffrey Levine, executive director of faith based Long Beach Rescue Mission, points out that childhood trauma is very often at the root of substance abuse.
Often mental illness is also a part of homelessness so there is no one cause. Therefore, Levine and others, point out that a complete system of care that considers all the underlying reasons why an individual is homeless must be provided.
In this complete system of care, housing must be addressed. But as those who have worked closely with homelessness warn, it is only a part of the solution. By itself it has proven to be an expensive failure.
Towards the end of the PragerU video, Allen Graham and Amber Fogarty from Community First Village in Austin,Texas warn against thinking that the government, on any level, can solve this problem. They believe that it takes all of us working together. Allen Graham states that, in his opinion, the single greatest cause of homelessness is the profound catastrophic lose of family.
As our society moves away from God and the principles given to us in the bible, we can fall into some tough situations, homelessness being just one of them. God can help us get back on our feet. We do need to be willing to ask for help.