This article about homelessness in Australia was written by one of my blog followers. The USA is not the only country that struggles with these issues. Click the link below to read the whole article, and while you are there check out some of the other articles. I’m glad to know someone who is trying to improve conditions for brothers and sisters in need.
It’s not because we can’t afford to care for the sick, it’s because we don’t want to. We tend to see the sick as weak or unworthy, we are told that health spending is out of…
Source: The Mentally Ill Homeless Need Care – has our society lost it’s soul ?
The Panama Adventure 
Sad but true. In Western Europe one will find not many of homeless people living in cars or sleeping on the streets. Yes more problems are coming up with illegal immigrants, mainly from Africa.
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I have seen in the news that the refugee and immigrant issue is huge in Europe. How do you feed, house, clothe, and assimilate all those people who are probably a ways from being able to work and care for themselves?
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The data is hard to locate, and the veracity even more difficult to discern. I found this list of the top 15 cities in the world for homeless persons. It is clear that the USA does not have a lock on this problem.
http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/poorest-list/the-15-most-homeless-cities-in-the-world/
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Can you imagine being homeless in NYC, or Moscow?! The winters are brutal.
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And the homeless in NYC are resisting.
“Although Bill’s administration is trying to move them into permanent houses, it is proving hard to fight the stubborn cluster site problem. In fact, he has been forced to increase these sites from 2,918 to 3,143.”
The homeless would rather stay homeless.
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I saw that. Why? Do they think they will lose their community that they have in the cluster site? I have heard that for some it is a lifestyle choice, all that freedom from responsibility but I think they are the minority. I did read one article where a woman went back to her tent in a homeless camp because she needed the community and protection of her neighbors there.
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I would imagine it could be access to drugs for some. Substance abuse is high on the list, it normally gets lumped in with mental illness but it is a different problem.
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That makes sense
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Hola Kris,
One of the most important organizations in solving this problem is the Salvation Army:
http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Why-are-people-homeless/
Unlike most “charitable” organizations, more of the donations go toward helping people than any other non-church related organization.
Homelessness is a tough problem to solve for any country but the reasons behind it are mostly the same. Simply providing a home does not fix the underlying cause. Giving people a purpose and making them self-sufficient allows them to decide their own future.
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The Salvation Army people are wonderful people!. They have been there for people in need for a very long time. I remember they were active in Florida too with a shelter, counseling, and resources to help people get back on their feet. There are a lot of good people trying to help but the problem is just so big.
Thanks for the very interesting link.
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The mentally ill were allowed to leave caring facilities in CA when Reagan was Gov there. I believe it was ACLU that caused this by using the courts to show that the mentally ill were not a threat to anyone. The sad reality is that they are a threat to themselves but because of the ACLU the state had to cave on taking care of them and protecting them from themselves. Anyone who doesn’t wish shelter, food, healthcare, protection from harsh elements is probably not normal and most likely mentally ill. The ACLU deserves praise for getting these individuals out of a protected environment so they can have a miserable existence living on the streets where the government is powerless to protect them. So thank you ACLU for making all of our lives “better”.
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Yeah, that didn’t turn out well. You can’t put people out into the community if they can’t fend for themselves and the community doesn’t have the resources to care for them. I don’t know why that decision hasn’t been undone except it’s probably cheaper to leave them on the streets.
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There is a similar ACLU issue in Seattle claiming the homeless have a “right” to permanent camps on the city’s public land. (Which denies the use of public land by non-homeless, i.e. taxpaying citizens.)
http://mynorthwest.com/386260/seattle-accepts-homeless-ordinance/
The camps have no sanitary facilities, no code-compliant structures so they are a health risk to those living there and the nearby community.
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My younger daughter lives in Seattle and it is very expensive there, and I can see how it would be really difficult for someone to get off the street. These people have no where to go but I agree, you can’t have them living on public land without facilities. My California daughter told me they are working on a community of tiny houses for the homeless there. Maybe that will work out?
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