The Issue of Homelessness in the Kansas City Community

Many individuals in the United States of America take the issue of homelessness as a big issue. The world is also concerned with the welfare of homeless people and works towards helping them get available resources to ensure they are doing well. Homelessness comes from the inability of individuals to pay their house rents leading to eviction. The number of homeless people in the US has increased. Lack of shelter has resulted in people developing health problems. The issue of homelessness does not mean lack of a place to leave but mostly, the separation of people from the modern society. Kansas City is one of the areas that have an increased number of homeless people, especially in the streets begging. Most issues affect the youths in particular among the young people; there is unemployment, use of drugs. This essay addresses the issue of homelessness in the Kansas City community and recommendations to solve this problem.

Issues of Homelessness in the Society

Lack of a place to call home has a major effect on the lives of people. People can find themselves homelessness due to personal and economic crises. Issues related to homelessness include lack of proper healthcare facilities leading to sickness. Besides people mainly, the youths engage in drug abuse and others become robbers in the community. Various factors cause homelessness. The first one is mental health (Burt et al. 3-4). When one has a mental illness, they lack the ability to take care of themselves and especially when the family members do not have the capacity to help them they go and live in the streets. Another factor that leads to homelessness is when one is released from prisons or hospitals, and they do not have a place to call home.

Ethical and moral challenge

Homelessness is an issue related to human rights. Homelessness has led to problems in society like denial of children’s right to go to school and have a home. Social isolation is an important aspect that affects members of the community that do not have a home. Violence is rampant in families where there is homelessness (Burt et al. 3-4). Non-profit organizations, churches see homelessness as a moral and ethical concern that should be addressed. The following is the issue of homelessness in the Kansas City Community.

Problems in Kansas City

Drug abuse

Many problems are affecting the Kansas City community; one is the abuse of drugs among youths. The kids there living on the streets face hardship in trying to cope with the living standards; hence, they opt for drug use as a way to make them feel satisfaction (Rollinson 101-115).

Homelessness

Secondly, there is the issue of homelessness. There are not enough houses for every family, and hence many live in the streets (Rollinson 101-115). There are no sufficient resources to serve everyone in the society. The people in the community know each other because most of them are on the streets without shelter.

General overview of housing issues

The problems of housing are associated with the variance in the relationship of service providers that are not within the network of service providers at the field (Honig, Marjorie, and Randall 248-255). The organizations that provide the services of helping homeless people do not have the full capacity to fulfill the needs of the Kansas community members. There has been success in bringing other organizations from outside to serve the individuals, but they also have difficulties; for instance, engagement of the outside groups and the local agencies is hard because there is no unity in sharing data collected.

There is variability in the service delivery modes to the community concerning solving housing problems (Ritchey 1384-1386). The organizations that come to the aid of the homeless people come up with different programs. For example, religious groups like churches that come to help may require that one be eligible for getting the aid they should first be Christians; this is an issue of concern that needs solving thus no equity in solving housing problems.

There are varying levels of the service providers hence making it hard to come up with appropriate solutions. Partner organizations lack a proper coalition and working relationships; some groups fail to attend meetings to solve the issues of housing among the Kansas City Community (Okuyemi 287-296). Lack of cooperation among the service providers affect the data collection, and the solution required.

It is a problem for service providers because they need accurate information on the number of individuals in need of shelter services. The problem is seen mostly in areas that there is no easy accessibility, for example, in the slums, one cannot access the areas well; hence the people end up not getting the solution to housing problems (Honig, Marjorie, and Randall 248-255). The lack of transportation services is a major issue. On the other hand in the urban cities, there is the availability of infrastructure enabling helping organizations to offer their services to the community; it is a concern that needs addressing to ensure no individual is left out of getting shelter.

Demographics

There is a difference in the proportion of males to females in the people living in the community. Females and males are the most predominant in the Kansas City community. Demographic statistics show that the high percentage of the ethnic communities living in the Kansas City Community constituted of the Black or African Americans and there were smaller portions of the whites and members of the Hispanic communities (Burt et al. 3-4). There is a high number of students from homeless families enrolled in elementary schools.

Most of the individuals living in Kansas City face problems in attaining shelter. Some spend their nights staying with friends because their families lack the capability of providing shelter to them. Other individuals remain in emergency shelters; these structures are not permanent, people just create them so that they can spend their nights and the following day they have to look for different areas or methods to get shelter (Sanchez 101-110). Individuals sleep in areas that are unfit for human habitation; this is a tough issue that needs to be addressed to ensure no person faces issues that will in any way possible affect their health. Families stay in rental areas that are not stable. In rainy seasons, individuals face problems because the rooftops of their rooms are easily blown out by heavy winds and rain.

The chronically homeless families need to be given the first priorities in the provision of housing solutions. For instance, if the homeless people living on the streets are given houses to rent; this would cause a lot of issues because they are not used to the payment of rent (Rollinson 101-115). A long lasting solution that will ensure that they do not feel a heavy burden from the transition. Landlords would end up evicting them for the inability to pay their rent. Finding emergency rooms is a good idea, but it will not offer a long lasting solution to members of the society. Provision of shelter services to the members of the society that live in the streets will require promotion of other essential needs like food and clothing (Honig, Marjorie, and Randall 248-255). Other members of the community suffer from illnesses and need medical attention.

Organizations Supporting Kansas City

The Missouri Housing Trust Fund plays a significant role in ensuring that members of the society get emergency assistance, rental assistance, houses repair and building (Rollinson 101-115). The supporters have worked to make sure that the members of the society that come from the streets and hospitals do not pay their rents before they become stable; this is an important aspect that should be emulated by other supporting organizations that ensure everyone gets the necessary help. There is a need for everyone to help people living with HIV and avoid stigma and discrimination.

Gay- Straight Alliance Network, a leadership organization, connects individuals of the gay society to the community through leadership development, peer support, training and strengthening the capacity of these people to be successful in the society. The organization also ensures that the lesbian and gay society achieve equality in participation in different activities in the community (Burt et al. 3-4).

A group that campaigns for equal rights of women and against violence advocates for elimination of certain habits in the society like sexual assault, domestic violence and deprivation of education to a girl child.
The Kansas City free healthcare clinic does not charge treatment fee; the hospital supports the people living in Kansas City and lacks the ability to pay for their medical bills (Eikenberry, Angela and Jodie 132-140). The clinic provides healthcare facilities to all individuals and has participated considerably helping the dispossessed people in the society.

Finally, there is a movement in the support and empowerment of youths in the community. The organization provides educational information to the kids and encourages them to form initiatives that will benefit them and the community.

One of the key issues facing the Kansas City community is unemployment that affects their ability to pay their rents. The high prices of rent in the area has left many individuals disturbed because it consumes most of their earnings. The problem of homelessness could easily be solved by the creation of more jobs to the community and ensuring they can properly pay for their houses and address their necessities. The following section presents recommendations to help in solving homelessness.

Recommendations

The development of housing to help the society is important in ensuring that everyone has the right to live comfortably. The strategies put in place would reduce the number of homeless individuals in Kansas City. The best approach in ensuring the problem of homelessness is lessening the number of newly homeless families. The bad economy promotes homelessness in the society. There should be measures to increase employment opportunities to reduce homelessness. The improvement of the current home infrastructure ensures that people live well (Eikenberry, Angela and Jodie 132-140). Development of the policies related to housing in Kansas City is critical because it will make sure all people get access to proper shelter. The recruitment of leaders of the community will ensure that there are efforts to improve the living conditions of individuals living in the City.

The most relevant way of reducing and supporting homelessness is through funding the departments that promote shelter for homeless families (Burt et al. 3-4). There should be strategies to stop evictions from houses, provision of cash advancements programs, looking for solutions to problems of notices. It is paramount to provide people with homes to those that are homeless.

The government should look for ways of increasing the incomes of the citizens that are penniless in the community to ensure they can take care of their families (Burt et al. 3-4). The increase in the income of poor individuals will reduce the chances of people losing their houses due to lack of finances. In the current condition in the area, there should be a direct provision of shelter to all individuals that require homes. Besides there should be offers of subsidized housing services to people to help them live a better life (Eikenberry, Angela and Jodie 132-140). The support should mostly incorporate people with disabilities first before the other people.

Temporary shelter

The provision of temporary settlements will ensure that every individual gets a place to sleep before there is formation of permanent houses (Wang et al. 81-89). The houses will prevent people from living in the streets; it is a significant transition.

Service centers

Service centers provide individuals with showers and laundry services. The centers provide referrals to the people on where to access settlements and healthcare facilities. The service centers also face difficulties because they lack resources to help the homeless people continually (Okuyemi 287-296). It is important for the government to fund the service centers so that they can continue serving the people in the society.

Transitional housing

Transitional houses form the first step in enabling individuals to move from the streets into getting into their long-term settlements (Sanchez 101-110). The programs provide education, employment, counseling, healthcare, childcare and transportation as people wait for the transition to proper housing.

Eviction prevention

The city has the goal of prevention of housing problems, prevention from eviction ensures that members of the society learn property management and subsidies that will enable every individual to manage their rent(Sanchez 101-110). The plans of preventing homelessness will ensure that there is the prevention of more homeless families in the streets as the process to combat the current of homelessness continues.

Rent Assistance

The program of rent assistance will ensure that people do not fall short of rents at any point; this also reduces the new cases of homelessness in the streets; it is a good measure to consider as progress.

Emergency rent assistance

The community should have the amount of money set aside to help those who cannot afford to make their rent payments.

The formulation of policy plan

The plans formed for the future should have property owners avoid eviction of individuals who have rent balances in the homes as they wait to be paid. The measure will prevent the cases of people going through the homelessness that affects their lives(Sanchez 101-110). Another measure is the creation of affordable houses that will enable everyone to live without fear of paying much rent.

The policies should allow the creation of more jobs for society. Linking people to employments will enable them to support themselves. Homelessness will reduce if people can manage to cater for their needs (Sanchez 101-110). The construction of houses for settlements will ensure that there is a resolution to the growing destituteness in the future.

Provision of homes to individuals leaving institutions like prisons and hospitals will ensure there are reduced cases of homelessness (Sanchez 101-110). There should be strategies of building infrastructure to enable organizations that bring help services can reach the individuals in both slums and other areas that are accessible.

Conclusion

Kansas City faces various issues including lack of houses, medical facilities, schools, drug abuse among youths. The most outstanding problem is housing as people lack homes and live in the streets. Various organizations ensure people get medical, health and shelter problems. The government comes up with policies in providing better services to the society concerning housing issues.