Imagine being twelve and seeing a homeless person every day while you are walking to school. This is traumatizing for most adults; just imagine what it will do to a kid. Every day I walk to school, and I see a homeless man. I wonder about how they became homeless, and that can make me think that I could be homeless, too. This can be traumatizing for a child like me. Homelessness is a problem, and we can solve it if we add more homeless shelters. This can also kill two birds with one stone; it can house the homeless and also solve how many adults and kids are being traumatized by seeing a homeless person.
Homelessness is a major issue that needs to be stopped in DC. My school visited a homeless shelter in DC. I noticed there were not that many people, and this made me wonder what the percentage rate is of people who get accepted. An article by Thrive DC states, “There are over 7,000 homeless individuals in DC. But, there are only 5,000 emergency shelter beds.” This quote shows that 2,000 people are without a bed, even if they got accepted to the shelter. This means almost 30% aren’t getting in! These people really need a bed. They deserve a bed.
A solution is to have a homeless shelter that can have both boys and girls, because part of the problem is that there needs to be more inclusive shelters. I think that if they did that, it would be more fair. Another solution is finding permit housing for homeless people. There will be at least people who are homeless and are in a homeless shelter. Countries like Japan have low homelessness rates because of the steps they take. In Bore Magazine, it says, “Japan is the only country that has a homeless population of nearly 0%. However, poverty issues, mental health reforms, and housing improvements are still the focus of humanitarian efforts in Japan.”
As discussed, homelessness is a problem that needs to be fixed by providing more homeless shelters. If we could do this, there would be fewer homeless people. Do you believe that homeless people should be helped, too? There’s only one right answer.
