What going on
According to the city, there are about 6,138 homeless people in Chicago. Some say there are more people on the street, with other people saying that there are more homeless households. The latter of the two means refers to an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Which includes those living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or places not meant for habitation.
It a big lack of affordable housing so it cause most people to be less fortunate, face eviction, instability. Most people not able to afford housing because the housing constantly increase but the money they make not.
Different rates in different places
A one bed room in Chicago can range between $700 to $900. Some people also are homeless because of Domestic Violence. Not being able to keep a job or not being able to have one at all can lead to homelessness.
There are over 600,462 homeless people in the United States, according to 2023 records. This number does not even reflect people in shelters; there are over 6,000 homeless people in shelters. Since 2019 to now, homelessness has not gotten better it gotten worse. It say that California has the biggest homeless population according to the records.
In 2022, in Los Angeles and the South Coast, the unhoused population was 49.9 percent. In the San Francisco Bay area, the percentage was 22.2. Furthermore, in Sacramento, the percent was 7.2, and in Central Valley the percent is 7.1.
what Less Fortunate going through
Additionally, the Central Coast percentage of unhoused people was 4.7. In Inland Empire the percent was 4.5. Since 2015, the homeless ratio has gone up 40 percent. Subsequently, this is due to people not being able to afford housing or don’t have enough money to.
Over time, there have been people trying to give out resources to the less fortunate. While this has helped some people it has not been able to reach most of those experiencing being unhoused. Some of the resources available include things like free housing, under certain condition, or shelters who help you with homes. Furthermore, there are other thing in that nature available. Of course, most of these resources depend on donations and available grant funds to help those effected. All of this is important to say because there are people who have so much money where they can help out the people in the U.S. experiencing housing issues.
The less fortunate people are going through so much not having no where to go, or even sleep. Some don’t even have anything to eat, so they get so depressed; to the point it like some give up. Some people are homeless with kids, while others are unhoused with their whole family with them. And that can be so hard for them.
The U.S. has so many empty buildings that they not using or taking care of. However, instead of trying to fix the buildings they let them sit there and just rot in the ground. All around the world there are about 4.5 million people who are homeless. Which is so sad because it not a lot of people out there helping.
What we can do
Chicago has always struggle with homelessness; even back 20 years ago. Some people are asking, “Well, what can we do?” As a whole, to stop homelessness, people can do a lot of things as a community. For example, they can fix these houses that are abandoned and rundown. Or start food drives to stop homeless and under privileged people from experiencing hunger. Additionally, if people stick together as a whole and come as one, they can help stop the government for allowing all of this.
Furthermore, advocates for those suffering can be the voice of the people who are not able to speak up or have voices are not being heard. Moreover, with how the rates are going in Chicago, it starting to look like every day another person becomes homeless. With some not just not being homeless but losing jobs or not being able to get one. All of which can turn a person homeless.
With that said there are many people out there who are working hard to at alleviating the homelessness issues. However, there are many more people who just don’t seem to care about nothing at all, and that has a bad impact. Why does it have a bad impact? Well, because these people facing downfall need someone they can depend on in hard moments. Unfortunately, a good portion of these individuals have no one to rely on other than the kindness of others.
Reasons Why They Face Downfall
In Chicago, prices of everything are so high. However, most jobs are paying so low, with some starting wages at $13 an hour. Meaning, people do not have enough money for things they need, like for clothes, housing, phone bill, or even food. In the last two years, food prices has gone up so much. Like a pack of meat use to be $4, now it’s $11. That is why there are a lot of less fortunate households are also going through hard times.
Written by Yakira Govan
Sources:
Yahoo! News- 20 Countries with the Highest Homeless Population
Unity Parenting & Counseling, Inc– Main Causes of Homelessness in Chicago
National Alliance to End Homelessness-State of Homelessness: 2023 Edition
Featured Image Courtesy of wonderferret’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Maureen Barlin Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
