Homeless essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Homeless - Essay Example If someone is being discharged from an institution such as a hospital, where he has been living for the last month or more, and has neither a house to live after his discharge nor the required resources to buy or rent one. Recently, volunteers spent a whole night trying to calculate the number of homeless people living in Syracuse. The Homeless and Housing Vulnerable Task Force traveled around the whole city counting the number of people spending the night on streets. They also checked emergency shelters, parks, playgrounds, bus stands, and all other possible areas where the homeless might spend the night. This year, it was the first time the Firefighting Department also helped in locating old and confiscated buildings where the homeless might find shelter. They counted out a total of 700 homeless people, which was a decrease by 37% since last year. At least the same rate of decrease is expected next year. (WTVH, 2008) Homelessness has been a major cause of problems occurring in a society on a daily basis. Businessmen are especially not happy with homeless people straying on the streets as it creates a bad image of their businesses, and also they are often subjected to petty crimes committed by the homeless. Other people living in the society are also often frightened by the presence of panhandlers and complain the destruction of the society's beauty brought about by the homeless. Due to the problems mentioned above, law enforcement agencies like the police department receive regular calls from angry businessmen complaining about the bad impact of homeless people on their businesses and ability to attract new business projects, and the crimes committed by them. In areas where large numbers of homeless reside, theft occurs at a regular basis. Businesses are robbed and theft of easily tradable accessories like tools and metal scraps has widely spread. Therefore, the police have to be extremely active in relation to the activities of the homeless. (Holderness, 1998) Along with the preceding problems, the community also faces the problem of large amounts of homeless people living and spending nights on subway stations. The up gradation and renovation of trains and subway stations done in order to attract people who lost hope in subway, also attracts helpless people who have no place else to go and wish to avoid crime and humiliation of public emergency shelters. Installation of air-conditioners has