by John Wayne Claybaugh
Anyone who wants to know the real reasons of homelessness need only look as far as the economy. We have a minimum wage of seven something, yet studies show that in Denver, Colorado, you need a full time job that pays 17 an hour in order to afford to live without government assistance.
Another study (from the fall of 2013) shows us that nowhere in the United States can a person have a full time job making minimum wage and afford a market rate apartment.
Add to that the fact that there are long waiting lists for the various programs that provide apartments with "income sensitive rent," and we start to realize that we have a problem.
It doesn't take much to become unemployed anymore, and for some of us it would be easier to walk from LA to DC than it is to find a job. Those of us who are or have been homeless didn't wake up one day and say, "I think I'll go be a homeless person for a while." Granted, some of us have made mistakes, but some of the mistakes that now contribute to homelessness used to only force a person to change jobs or find a cheaper place to live for a while.
Other people who are homeless have done nothing to cause it. A lay off or an apartment building being sold is all it takes.
Today, when I hear people say they are looking for somewhere cheaper to live I simply wait for them to realize that there is nothing cheaper. The reason they were living in their apartment is because it was the cheapest place they could find.
Homelessness will not magically go away either. If we really want to end homelessness we will all have to work together, change policy, and tell our politicians that we will no longer put up with the poor being treated as though they are less than human.
John Wayne Claybaugh
Anyone who wants to know the real reasons of homelessness need only look as far as the economy. We have a minimum wage of seven something, yet studies show that in Denver, Colorado, you need a full time job that pays 17 an hour in order to afford to live without government assistance.
Another study (from the fall of 2013) shows us that nowhere in the United States can a person have a full time job making minimum wage and afford a market rate apartment.
Add to that the fact that there are long waiting lists for the various programs that provide apartments with "income sensitive rent," and we start to realize that we have a problem.
It doesn't take much to become unemployed anymore, and for some of us it would be easier to walk from LA to DC than it is to find a job. Those of us who are or have been homeless didn't wake up one day and say, "I think I'll go be a homeless person for a while." Granted, some of us have made mistakes, but some of the mistakes that now contribute to homelessness used to only force a person to change jobs or find a cheaper place to live for a while.
Other people who are homeless have done nothing to cause it. A lay off or an apartment building being sold is all it takes.
Today, when I hear people say they are looking for somewhere cheaper to live I simply wait for them to realize that there is nothing cheaper. The reason they were living in their apartment is because it was the cheapest place they could find.
Homelessness will not magically go away either. If we really want to end homelessness we will all have to work together, change policy, and tell our politicians that we will no longer put up with the poor being treated as though they are less than human.
John Wayne Claybaugh
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