We all know there are Homeless people out there. We see them standing with signs “feed me” walking up and down the street at a stop light. We, for the most part, roll up our windows or pretend not to notice. Then we give ourselves a moment to reflect or comment, quickly dismissing the subject. We just can’t think about it for too long because we have things to do, places to go…plus we don’t want to relate because we feel we are not the same as this homeless person who must have done something wrong in his/her life to be in this position. We comfort ourselves, remind ourselves that there is help out there, social services that can fix the problem; but does anyone know what that help is and if it can really fix the problem?
Homelessness can happen to anybody and no one knows this more than Miss Colorado USA 2011, who was evicted from her home a month after she won her title. Raised in an average American household, she lost her father to cancer at age 14. Following this loss, her mom suffered a heart-attack due to the stress from being a single mom. Not being eligible to receive disability, they lost their home, and if not for the kindness of family friends who have given them a place to stay, they would have been in a shelter. Miss Colorado, who graduated with a Master’s degree magna cum laude from the Art Institute of Colorado, is about to lose her job due to store closure. Below is a clip about her story from NBC.
This can happen to anyone and i say this because even if you own your home, you don’t really own it. What you really own are monthly bills and home property taxes. I pay $9000 plus in taxes for my house, which amounts to paying monthly rent for a decent apartment. These taxes are not going away, they will only increase. I don’t want this on my back for the rest of my life. What if, and i hate using the word if, one day (God forbid) i can’t afford those taxes. What will happen? I can go on and on about this but then what? Let’s face it, the system is set up for the average American to be homeless and it is becoming more and more apparent because of the the growing problem of Homelessness. The Fiscal Year 2011 and 2012 Federal Budget will not help either. So far it looks like budgets for community block grants, affordable housing programs and homeless services will be slashed. These budget cuts can cause thousands of families to lose their homes and thousands more to lose access to needed assistance. For more info visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget
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