Written by Michael Thervil
When it comes to combating homelessness within the City of Houston, it’s considered by many to be “an impossible task”. When you consider the fact that when it comes to understanding how and why people become homeless in the first place, it turns out to be a complex intermingled set of dynamic variables that can’t be generalized in any sense. Obvious barriers for many people who fall into homelessness range from adverse mental health conditions to drug dependency and drug abuse (10% of homeless). For other people who fall into homelessness, it turns out that they don’t have the correct set of, if any, skills that are applicable to today’s job market.
Moreover, let’s not forget about the vast number of people who hold degrees (oftentimes advanced degrees) that find themselves underemployed and are struggling to keep up with rising inflation (slightly over 30% in Houston). Another subset of people that are battling chronic homelessness in Houston and in America in general, are American Military Veterans. What’s particularly disheartening about this subgroup is that it’s the young Military Veterans who are experiencing homelessness in America the most.
The social issue of homelessness is not unique to the City of Houston. It’s an occurrence that's being normalized all over America. However, since we are based in Houston Texas, it's only fitting that we address the epidemic of homelessness in the City of Houston. It was reported last year that at least 47% of the residents in the City of Houston are at least 1 paycheck away from being homeless and that percentage is gradually increasing. This gradual increase is occurring despite the 2022 report of Houston cutting the amount of people experiencing homelessness by almost half by moving the homeless into no/low-income apartments.
But for many residents in Houston, placing people into no/low-income apartments isn’t enough. Many people in Houston are advocating not only for the expansion of a Basic Universal Income program which gave roughly 1,928 families that qualified for the program $500.00 per month for a total of 18 months; but they are also advocating for employers to increase wages and for the City of Houston to create and further develop social programs that assist Houston residents in acquiring the resources needed to sustain their living conditions and expectations. In short, the Houston residents who are championing this, are quietly demanding a “facelift” on the perceived stigma of social welfare programs.
When it comes to providing solutions to combat homelessness in Houston, there are residents who are pessimistic in that there isn’t/won’t be a solution created that significantly combats homelessness on any terms because the system in place inherently will always consist of people who fall into homelessness. On the other hand, there are also Houston residents that think that to properly address and fix the social issue of homelessness in Houston, there needs to be a new system created that provides deep incentives that attract and motivate both people and corporations to play a larger role in combating the social issue of homelessness. We are interested in what solutions you have in mind. Let us know in the comments below.
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