Causes of Homelessness
Bentley Martin
BSHS/302
July 16, 2011
Joey Schumacher

Causes of Homelessness
There are many factors that lead to poverty and homelessness. People often jump to conclusions and form stereotypes to look down upon those who are poor. Stereotypes include poor people who are viewed as lazy, jobless, criminals, or un-educated. When I think of a homeless individual, I would agree with most of the stereotypes and find within the reading and researching that there is more to just the mental perceived thoughts.
I think one big cause of being in poverty or being homeless is by the choices people make. By choices I mean the way that people choose to spend their money. A budget is hard for many in this type of
There are homeless shelters that are made for people once they become homeless. These are great because they give people a place to stay for awhile but unfortunately it is not a place to have a family or make a home. The only way to truly put a stop to poverty and homelessness is to stop these people from getting homeless, “closing the door to homelessness.” There are some communities in the United States that offer activities to prevent it. One of those is providing assistance to avert housing loss for households that are facing eviction. There are other voluntary programs that help people when they are discharged from jail, hospitals or prisons so they have somewhere to go. It is more important to develop effective prevention strategies then to help the person when it is too late. While I think the programs that they have to help the homeless are great, I think more needs to be done in the future to make sure poverty and homelessness is being prevented (Burt, 2006).
There are many ways that individuals and groups can make positive social change to address the causes of homelessness. There are many non-profit organizations and also government funded agencies that work towards helping with the poverty and homelessness issue that we are faced with today. The associations of Social Workers calls for social workers to advocate policies and plans that will create a safety net for persons that are in poverty