What is Driving High Rates of Homelessness in the US?

About to be Driven Over the Abyss

Not about the drugs, or mental illness or any of the other talking points anymore, homelessness is changing.  Now, it is coming home to roost and it cannot be ignored anymore(Metatag)

Introduction

You know there is a very quiet, subtle, nearly undetected shift going on with the homeless community right now, over the past 5 years the make-up and diversity of their population has changed tremendously

You and I can no longer use the stereotypes and labels that has kept us comfortable, why, because homelessness is exploding to all demographics right now, diversity has come

Homelessness is a society-based problem and a housing problem and when we do not solve it at that level, then we are going to have true problems, without affordable housing there are no answers

Let’s look at His word as we start today;

Philippians 2: 4  do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interests of others
Proverbs 19: 17  Whoever is generous to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed

What Say You…

Intolerance builds walls, kills inventiveness and keeps and ends lives and it causes people to actively chose to not be here for their life anymore for their future, Do you understand…

        Fear…Fearfulness, Do You Understand that they, the homeless, are more afraid and more like us than you are willing to admit, why fear, the stereotypes have died, because but for the grace of God there go you or I…

Homelessness is off the Charts

What is currently happening is a super storm of proportions that we still do not accept or realize. We have become so comfortable in our old thought processes that it is always them and not us, we are about to be blindsided. Rents, mortgages are leveling the playing field

This super storm is composed of three entrenched components that are not being dealt with. Unaffordable housing, Stagnant wages, and the Cutting of Resources. Instead of being fluid and working together, they are locked in place and taking each down in a complete crisis situation.

To stop the super storm and its ravages we have to stop with the stereotyping and start working on the core three issues of homelessness to stop the surging numbers. Homelessness is not as it was and we have to stop with the reactionary mind-sets

The Blame Game is Killing Humans

Blame: assign responsibility for a fault or wrong

If housing is the problem, then who is to blame for homelessness

If stagnant wages are the problem, then who is to blame for rent being unaffordable

If resources are the problem, then who or what is to blame for their lack

If homeless people are all addicts and derelicts, then why not blame parents and society for it

How can we continue to assign responsibility for a fault that is not their own as if it is, the homeless person is not responsible for housing costs exploding, not responsible for life going sideways, but we hide behind blame to avoid reality

The us versus them, the state versus federal government, the pro versus anti help, and on goes the blame game for the cause of homelessness and it does nothing but add to the pain, suffering and even deaths on the streets. But blame is not but a mask for the reality that no one is ready to face as homelessness comes home to roost

1890’s homelessness existed, the Great Depression made it worse, the recession of the 1980’s also added to the numbers and then the crash of 2008 did it’s damage.  Where is the blame, why waste time, can we look for solutions, where is addictions, alcohol, mental health in those numbers, solutions not blame

Hiding behind the blame game is like both sides holding lit dynamite and expecting the other to put yours out for you and then being upset when it blows up in your face. Okay, think on that, holding lit dynamite, not putting it out, then it blows up, and you are upset, although you did nothing to put it out, really?

We are Past Building Our Way Out

Looks can be so very deceiving, when you drive around most major cities you can witness great building projects, both for purchase and rent, underway, but they are not the affordable/attainable p projects, they do not want them anymore, no one builds them now

Now for those that think homelessness are simply drugs and mental health, and alcohol lets stop for a moment and meditate, housing since the pandemic has gone up about 20% to 30%. People are spending more than 30% of their income on housing, requiring more than 40, in some cities nearly 60 to 70 hours of minimum wage to pay rent

We are past the point of building our way off the of unaffordable housing, we now have to begin to work together and begin to end the us versus them mindset, find creative solution, or the abyss is waiting for many.  There are many creative solutions, but we have to switch to a non for high profit thinking, quite unpopular

No One Can Work for Rent Anymore…

Federal minimum wage is $7.59 per hour and across the nation the average at that rate would have to work over 80 hours per WEEK, to cover rent for one month at 30% of their paycheck. Cost of Living has outpaced wages, homeless is the outcome

This is an unrecognized national crisis, and it must be faced, named, dealt with, we cannot go on ignoring the critical, growing lack of affordable housing for all American citizens, unless we want to be a nation of homeless, except for the illegals

Imagine if you will the single mom, the older woman, the struggling father , the young college grad, in the market place of today, knowing that they cannot work enough to pay bills and live a life that they have dreamed about, hope can die a quick death, what  is to be done…

Conclusion

What is driving the numbers, multiple unrecognized and undealt with factors that are causing a great divide between the housed and unhoused, but the cliff is waiting for many as the numbers surge past recovery

What is driving the numbers, the waste of time and energy blame game, the game that says the homeless themselves are to blame, that they are not worth the money or effort to help, the blame that it is their fault and yet they are a great mixed multitude of humans

What is driving the numbers, the stagnant wage crisis and it is partially due to the illegal crisis that have been welcomed into this nation with open arms while our citizens and retired military struggle and die on the streets

CTA…..

Answer this, are you willing to stand on the abyss as America is about to face one of her greatest crisis moments and turn your back your back and say there are no answers and stand by as millions fall off…

Answer this, the paycheck and wage system will not be changing any time soon, thanks to the illegal immigrant influx that has been allowed, but is there another way to prevent, reduce and stop the numbers driving homelessness

No one person can work enough hours to cover rent at present, so creative, out of the box solutions are needed, are you willing to be part of the answer, to talk the nation of the cliff, or are you still in the mode of it is us versus them…

Finally, remember, this is not going to go away, and it may come to roost under your roof…