What they wrote

The word homeless is a stereotype. People jump to conclusions about the homeless when they see a homeless person or the news reports on the homeless. Actually there are many people who are homeless, and no one ever hears about them. There are a lot of homeless people whom you don't see, they are the children. The children are the victims through no fault of their own.

The Homeless Children's Education Fund reports that there are close to 25,000 homeless people in Allegheny County, and over 3,000 of them are children mostly under the age of twelve. Most of the homeless families are made up of single mothers and their children. There are stereotypes of the "homeless bums" and "street people" living under the bridges and eating out of dumpsters. The unseen homeless are families who have to double up in a house and have nowhere to call their own. The children have no bed to sleep in or their own toys or stuffed animals. These children often miss school because they have no permanent home.

A lack of education can also be an outcome of homelessness and helps to keep the cycle of homelessness going. Some homeless are working and trying to make ends meet, but can't get ahead because they have the lowest paying jobs because they don't have an education to better themselves.

Many people, groups, and social services try helping the homeless by developing programs such as shelters, soup kitchens, Bridge Housing, and Permanent Housing.

Getting people into homes that they can afford is an important service. Sometimes it is just giving them a place to sleep for the night. Most of the housing programs are just temporary except permanent housing.

There is one thing I know, stereotyping is a horrible thing to do. I know even I do it sometimes, but it's wrong and I'm making a stand. You can't just think about homeless people as "bums on the street," because they are not and the homeless are people. too.

This year, November 12th through the 18th, the week before Thanksgiving, is designated as National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Getting involved in this crucial campaign not only brings a greater awareness to myself, but also helps to promote the national attempt to end hunger and homelessness. The troubles that those without a home face can be both lonely and difficult. Addressing their struggles by participating in this week may bring greater knowledge and understanding to many, as well as promote future participation. From my point of view, knowing that people are out there on the streets starving and homeless really terrifies and upsets me in a country where there is so much individual wealth.

If all people who are able would join in and get involved, I am sure we could resolve this national problem. Following are some ideas that I can act upon to help as well as ways to encourage other people to participate in National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. For starters, I could organize a food and clothing drive at my school and donate all that is collected to the local food bank and homeless shelter. Other ways I could assist, raise money, and promote awareness is by putting together fundraisers with the support of my friends and family. These fundraisers would include a car wash in the summer, a bake sale, and volunteering my time at the local food bank and shelters to serve people in need.

To arrange the food and clothing drive at my school I would first have to get permission from the principal. If she allows this, I would then send out a flyer to all the teachers and students announcing the week of our drive and suggested donations. After that, I would have boxes put into each classroom so the students would have a container to put their donations into as they bring them in each day. At the completion of the week, all the collected food and clothing would be organized and delivered to the local food bank and homeless shelter. There I would volunteer my time to help sort out the donations and serve the hungry and homeless people.

To organize the car wash, during the summer, I would first have to talk to our pastor and get his approval. I would ask him if I could have a car wash and bake sale in the Church parking lot and then use the proceeds to hold a Thanksgiving Feast in the Church Hall for the hungry and homeless of our community. I would also ask his permission to publicize it in the bulletin and on the parish billboard as well as have the lectors announce it at all the masses. Then, I would post flyers publicizing the reason for this fundraiser along with the date and time. Lastly I would recruit volunteers to assist at the car wash, donate baked goods, and serve at the feast. After the car wash, I would collect all the money and use it to purchase the Thanksgiving Feast. In addition to feeding the needy, I would organize a job fair to occur during the Thanksgiving Feast to assist these people in finding a job. Hopefully this gesture would help these people see how much we care and give them the encouragement to take their first step to a new life.

I would love to accomplish all of these goals knowing that my work would be assisting so many people in need. National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is a great way to enlighten people about this problem in our country; if we all work together, we can promise a better life for everyone. Setting and reaching our short-term goals will eventually lead to accomplishing our long-term goals of abolishing homelessness and starvation. This would make us a true united nation as we act together as good Christians to serve others.

Essays focusing on homelessness among children

A home is one of the main essentials of living a healthy, safe, and happy life. Unfortunately, many Americans are deprived of this basic need through no fault of their own. All over our country there is an issue that some try to hide or shy away from. This is homelessness.

The United States is one of the wealthiest nations in the entire world, and yet over the past fifteen to twenty years we've had a growing shortage of affordable housing and a simultaneous increase in poverty. Los Angeles is the capital of homelessness for the United States with a housing unit shortage of 400,000. Some people think that people should just get a job and their troubles would be over; however, around 45% of these people work a part-time or even a full-time job.

The face of homelessness has also changed. With unemployment and underemployment growing, we are now looking at family homelessness. This means that children do not have the basic need of shelter in this rich nation. There are many reasons for this growing problem: substance abuse, street violence, and cutbacks in the availability of social services.

Statistics say that approximately 100,000 children are homeless across the country, and the majority of these children are under the age of five.

This is unacceptable in our wealthy nation. Some communities are trying to do their part by working at soup kitchens, food pantries, food co-ops and shelters. Local churches have seasonal food drives and "angel trees." These may take people off the street for an evening or give them a nice Christmas, but why should they have to go back out into the cold, dangerous streets when it's over? We need to do something in addition.

There is one program called "Habitat for Humanity," which builds houses for eligible homeless families, that is slowly making a difference entirely on donations. One of the requirements for being eligible for habitat housing is to donate at least 500 hours to habitat work, and to help in some way to build another's home. This is one long-term solution that is making a difference by providing shelter and allowing people to call it a home.

As Christians we are called to help the poor and homeless. So, during this Thanksgiving season, let's remember the less fortunate.

Somewhere in my heart, I always find a desire to help others. One that stands out the most, is to help the homeless. You just don't know what your donation can do for a homeless child. Making people aware is the best thing you can do so that others can help in very specific ways. When I go through Pittsburgh, I see homeless people on the streets and I try to put myself in their shoes. Would I want someone to help me? Yes. So, here are some specific ways we can make people aware in order to help the homeless children.

You can make a poster and put it in front of a love box, labeled "homeless children," and ask your parish priest if a second collection could be taken up in order to help the homeless children. Also, at your school, you could go to each of the classrooms and talk to the students about homeless children and ask for a donation of used textbooks, school supplies, money or clothing for them. Perhaps, the Diocese of Pittsburgh could set up a special fund for Catholic Education for homeless children. Another way is to have your school "adopt" a homeless child for the school year and the school would help them with whatever needs they may have.

These are just a few simple things you can do to help make a big difference in the life of a homeless child.

Essays focusing on homelessness among adults

How sad in today's world that people don't have enough food to survive or live in a warm and safe home. I don't know what it's like to be hungry or not have any food. I don't know what it's like to be homeless.

I see homeless people on the news when they show them living under bridges, in tunnels, lobbies of buildings or in abandoned cars and houses. They are sometimes shown sleeping on sidewalks near steam or hot air vents in the winter. Even in warm weather or warm climates, people may not be in danger of freezing but they are not safe living on the streets. They still need a safe place to sleep and enough food to eat.

Hunger is a major problem all over the world, even in our communities. Although I don't see homeless people in Beaver County, they exist and so does hunger. With the weather getting colder, where will they sleep? Will their clothes keep them warm and will they have enough food to eat? I doubt it.

Even with the help of many people supporting hunger projects, the goal is not being met. Probably there are shelters in many areas, but people are still homeless. Community food banks certainly help meet some of the need some of the time. However, the situation exists all of the time. Even with all the efficient and productive farming methods there are not enough hands to distribute the food where it is most needed. Much food is being wasted daily. Hopefully, through education, compassion, and a growing awareness of this issue, my generation will soon find a solution to the world wide problem of homelessness and hunger.

There are some people who won't have a Thanksgiving or a Christmas, or a Hanukkah, or a Kwanzaa. It's not because they don't want to, it's because they can't. They aren't as lucky as you or me. They don't have a warm bed with a down comforter and a stuffed dog to top it all off. They often don't even have a home. These people may not have enough food to go around and even so, they are just like us. They need money, they need you to donate to them. Do we really need another showing room at our movie theater? Is it that important that we have a JC Penney store at our shopping mall? We already have a Sears store. Why can we not take the 20 minutes to go through our old clothes and donate the reasonably nice ones to the Saint Vincent de Paul bin that is right next to that church down the block, if we are in such a hurry to go shoping for what's "in style"? You know what? The homeless people probably never had clothes that were "in style," so if you give them your clothes that were in style last week, at least that's a start, and you know what? To them it doesn't matter, just so long as they have something to wear and it keeps them warm. Donate to that food drive that you heard about when the kindergarten mothers were talking about their children hosting a food drive. Coat drive, clothes drive, blanket drive, same thing. One t-shirt to you might be a joy for the homeless to receive. Just think. If you were someone freezing, sitting on the steps of the PNC bank holding a battered Starbuck's coffee cup with two quarters, three dimes, and four pennies, how would you feel, with people walking right past you or looking down at you with obvious distaste. It would feel pretty bad, and you know, and everybody knows that all you can buy is a pack of Wrigley's spearmint gum. If somebody walked by on a rainy day and handed you even a newspaper, you would be thrilled, because now you have temporary protection against the rain, and when you get something to eat, a plate. If you looked into the world with a homeless person's eyes, you would be amazed.

Did you know that there are thousands upon thousands of people who are homeless? We, as individuals, should be thankful we have the same roof over our heads every day, because the homeless go from shelter to shelter about every two to three nights. Although homeless people stay in these shelters, they are not just for individual people. There are places that house complete families, consisting of parents, and children due to circumstances beyond the parents' control, such as losing their jobs, which in turn causes them to lose their house, and all of their belongings. We are fortunate enough to have our parents to take care of us, and make sure we have food on our table, and clean clothes to wear each day. The homeless have none of this. Put yourself in their shoes; would you like to have to live out in the rain and snow, or in a car, or even under a bridge? These people need to worry every day where their next meal will come from.

In Allegheny County alone there are approximately 11,100 families that are homeless. Think about that, these people don't have a permanent roof over their head; imagine having to live under these conditions. In 2003-2004, the Homeless Assistance Program County Profiles helped out 24,535 homeless people all together, including the counties of Allegheny, Bedford, Fayette, Fulton, Greene, Somerset, Washington, and Westmoreland. This is a sad, but true statistic, but hopefully, with county-implemented programs geared towards assisting children in getting the much needed help necessary to stop the cycle of homelessness, such as educational enrichment programs, which encourage school attendance, and the little help from all of us, this number could decrease in years to come.

My family and I help out in ways we can. We donate our old clothes or clothes we don't need; we donate food to the canned food drive at our school, and at the grocery stores when they are promoting the food drives. As my sister and I get older my family plans to work at local soup kitchens during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and when times are necessary. We would also like to get involved with Habitat for Humanity, which is an organization that helps people build homes in cases where they lost their previous home due to a variety of circumstances such as unemployment or flooding.

It doesn't take much more than some of your time volunteering to help the homeless and less fortunate; the personal satisfaction could be very self gratifying. If you have old clothes you don't want, don't just throw them away, donate them to charity. The people who get them will be very happy. The homeless don't care if they get a single article of clothing, because it's more than they had before that one little thing. Don't let food or clothes go to waste, as there are people out there who need these things.

So you see, we can make a difference; we need to keep these less fortunate people in our thoughts and prayers every day, and do whatever we are in a position to do to help, not just throughout the holidays, because they need our help all year long.

12/11/06