Homelessness and Poverty
Over the past year more than three million Americans were homeless. A scary thing is that a lot more people are at risk of becoming
homeless. The Department of Housing and Urban Development conducted a study in 2009 which showed that nearly five
million low-income American households were paying more than a half of their income on rent and thus were a great risk of
becoming homeless. A great number of circumstances like missed paycheck, health problems or unpaid
bills can force these families into homeless.
One of the main reasons for homelessness is obviously deficit of housing that poor families can afford.
National Law Center
has special projects that are aimed to increase a number of affordable housing. NLCHP has helped to convert federal
property worth more than $100 million into housing, job training centers, and homeless shelters. These places help
thousands of homeless people every year. NLCHP also helps to Increase Housing Through Enforcement of Civil Rights by
supporting and advocacy consultations. NLCHP assists local groups to battle Not-In-My-Back-Yard opposition to sating of
housing for homeless people. NLCHP has issued two reports documenting NIMBY impact on housing and services for homeless
people, talking about Fair Housing Act protections for sating of such facilities, and suggesting practical actions to
reduce NIMBY resistance.
Another very important aspect for homeless people is civil rights. The NLCHP does not leave this aspect aside. It fights
against the laws that prohibit homeless people conducting life-sustaining activities in public places, even if there are no
private spaces provided for homeless to conduct these activities. For instance, laws do not allow sleeping in public
places even if a person does not have a home where to sleep. Some laws might not allow eating in public places.
To help out homeless people regarding this issue, the Law Center has Civil Rights Project that advocates against
the laws that I have mentioned above. On March 4, 2005 in Washington D.C. the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
one of two organizations in the inter-American structure for the encouragement and protection of human rights, had a inquiry
to evaluate fulfillment with the basic human right to housing by the largest Western nations.
Resources
The Salvation Army - founded more than 130 years ago by William Booth is a religious and social service organization, a branch of the Christian Church dedicated to the battle against sin and despair. Its social services programs assist children, the elderly, families, and those battling addiction.
Gospel Rescue Missions offer to help the homeless and other needy people, all services are provided to anyone regardless of race, age, religion, color, creed, national origin, disability, marital status, or veteran status.
Department of Veterans Affairs offers a wide array of special programs and initiatives specifically designed to help homeless veterans.
Although limited to veterans and their dependents, its programs constitute the largest integrated network of homeless treatment and assistance services in the country.
Feeding America is the nation's leading domestic hunger relief charity, its network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors.
SnagAJob.com is the nation's largest job site for part-time and full-time hourly employment, it has more than 100,000 active job listings from top employers across the country.
Intelius.com helps millions of people to find and reconnect with family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones. Intelius provides the best people search services.
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