Living in Washington DC, I have come across many streetwalkers, people that are walking and living without the basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. Being a homeless person is not a option but many people are faced with this detriment. We see them as a crowd or collective entity. We call them homeless people as if that defines them but we refuse to add the unspoken truth that they are people of mental and social disabilities, financial problems, and abandoned in America.
Many homeless people suffer from mental and social disabilities. The homeless population of mental illness has increased since 1970. In most major cities such as Washington, DC and New York the homeless population had increased by 363% between 1987 and 2007. According to the article by The Washington Post, many shelters in Washington, DC metropolitan area are not equipped to handle the growing number of homeless people. In 2001, University of Pennsylvania’s study said that 5000 homeless people that were examined suffered from a form of mental illness. "In New York City they found that more and more homeless people were in psychiatric hospitals, shelters, prisons and living on the streets than ever before.
However Financial problems and poverty are the most common causes of homelessness. Not everyone who has experienced being homeless is to blame sometimes this comes from a situational or generational reason according to the Censes 2010 14.3% of people nationwide are living at or below the poverty line this in turn causes financial problems and burdens for many different areas it is now clear how many homeless people become homeless in the first
