Just Like You

The number one reason of homelessness: lack of affordable housing.


photo via Wikimedia Commons under the Creative Commons License

history in the making

Lazy, runaways, drugs, and alcohol almost always follow the term “homelessness.” Behind every face there is a story and behind every story there is a reason as to why they lead the lives they live. The leading cause of homelessness is not the typical stereotype (example: drugs), but instead is the lack of affordable housing in America.

The population seems to forget that those living on the streets are somebody’s daughter, son, sister, brother, mother or father; they are just like us. A handful of homeless attain college degrees, but due to lack of jobs and the amount of debts after college, they find themselves in need of a home and shelter.

The majority of homeless people in America have jobs; it is just that most of them cannot live off of the money earned from their salary and resort to living in their cars, in motels, or on the streets. In Orange County alone, there are 32,510 homeless kids and of that number 11,118 are in high school and 2,773 turned 18 last year.

Truth be told, there is more that meets the eye and people have to realize that the same fate can occur to them at any given moment. As humans, our compassion must prevail in order to understand that “homelessness” is not a lifestyle chosen; behind every face on the streets lives a struggling American just like you.

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