In this article written by columnist Michael Hiltzik, he cites the Pew Research animation of household income comparisons from 1971 to 2015 to expose the growth in income inequality. The main issue in this article is the worry of what will become of the middle class, but what I focused on when looking at this chart is the issues this brings for the lower class/people living below poverty line. Hiltzik writes:

“The percentage of adults in the highest-income segments grew from 14% in 1971 to 21% in 2015, while those in the lowest two income categories grew from 25% to 29%. Middle income households as a percentage shrank from 61% to 50% in that time.”

Lower class to middle class shows a $10,000 increase between the two, yet the income range within the middle class is $41,000 – 125,608. I am not in full understanding of these ranges, but what I do know is that as the middle class thins out, the harder it becomes for those in poverty to rise up and be successful. What is positive about this article is that by debunking the myths and denials of the wage gaps and diminishing of the middle class, people can make educated decisions on what they can do to prevent this from furthering by voting for a candidate that best fits their needs. Unfortunately, those who do not have a voice in this election could be the ones to improve income equality, but our society does a wonderful job at masking this truth. I highly suggest looking at the animation and focusing on the far right to visually see the increase in the upper class. What can we do to improve voter turnout for those who believe they are not being heard? How do we improve income equality among the lower class as well?

http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-ft-graphic-20160320-snap-htmlstory.html

Today is World Happiness Day, which makes me wonder about what this truly means on a global scale. I’m sure we’ve all pondered the question what it means to be happy and how we can strive for the ultimate happy life.

This question of happiness made me wonder about the type of homeless person I feel like we often don’t talk about. The person that wants to live on the street or not have a job because they are happier without being trapped in minimum wage work. They don’t want to be apart of the system that would make them unhappy and they find that there are enough services of food and shelter to survive.

Burundi was ranked as the saddest country in the world, although the Burundians themselves might disagree. Amongst rampant poverty and hunger, Burundians are grounded in community and family where there is space for socialization sharing laughter and ultimately happiness.

Culture in the United States is centered around the free market, where productivity levels are at an all time high although pay compensation is not met. Many work their asses off in order to survive. One could also say happiness is questioned often in this kind of society where there many be no time for community building and socializing.

This makes me think of those “radical” people that chose homelessness as a method of avoiding the American free market.

Is this group of homeless happier? Are they able to live communally and focus on the qualities that foster true happiness like the Burundi people? Are structural changes aimed at creating a more happy society?

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/03/20/471009996/-is-burundi-really-the-world-s-saddest-country-a-burundian-responds

So far during my internship at a homeless youth organization,  I have learned about what it means to be a homeless or at risk youth, and what ones needs are. I have observed who the youth are, and what has brought some of them to or near homelessness. I have also gained knowledge about what these youth need from an organization, and what such an organization expects of its youth and staff.

Before beginning the internship, we as a class have studied homelessness in America, and have even discussed homeless youth in particular. We have learned that the epidemic of  homeless youth is growing, and that these youth are in need. Prior to this class, I had little knowledge of homeless youth, and was unaware of the growing issue. When I thought of homelessness, i pictured men and women living on the street, and not youth who are forced into couch surfing and shelters. However, as i began the internship, I was able to see the epidemic first hand, from my own perspective. I learned that many of the youth have become homeless because of poverty, abuse, addiction, and abandonment. Some of the youth have also experienced little to no family support, which is what leaves them to fend for themselves. As for some of the youth who have been through abusive and traumatic experiences, many of them have found themselves addicted to drugs or alcohol. What I appreciate about the youth organization is the fact that they allow youth to come as they are, addicted and in need of help, rather than turning them away. They believe in helping the youth first with their basic needs, and then offering help with their addictions. Not only does the organization offer rehabilitation, but counseling as well, which I believe is extremely beneficial.  Along with needs such as these, the organization also assists youth with food, clothing, housing, medical and dental care, and even obtaining a California ID. The organization even goes beyond that, with aiding youth with transportation such as a buss pass, and even offers tutoring for school. I truly believe that the organization is doing an outstanding job with helping the youth, and the youth seem to believe so as well. I believe the one thing that sets them apart from other organizations is there discourse. They provide resources for the youth, as many resources as they can, and the youth can take them whenever they decide to. The youth are not forced to fix themselves, but the resources are there when they decide to. The youth are allowed to go to the organization and play games with their friends, just as they should. They are saved from their circumstances when they are at the organization, and allowed to be kids. And whenever they are ready, they can take advantage of  the available resources. However, as with any great organization, there is always room for improvement. I believe the organization could improve on their organizational skills, because this would make them more efficient. I am interested to see what the remaining duration of my internship will bring, and what more i will learn about the organization and what it does for the youth.

In late January, Portland claimed to be having issues of homeless disturbing neighborhoods and ultimately being too visible to the public eye. The homeless would sleep under the multitude of bridges, on park benches, and under any shelter they could find. Police eventually began shooing them to other areas and that is when a few of these homeless became exhausted. They were tired of moving and wanted to have some sort of stability. They created an encampment originally close to a neighborhood, and got removed by police, the city continued to chase them from spots around Portland, until finally giving these homeless people a city-owned deserted parking lot. These homeless people came together and created a community with security, rent, and the start of some infrastructure. The city was in awe. Believing this encampment would be a disaster, with people with mental illness, drug abuse, and other sorts of experiences, the city was hesitant. But in fact, the homeless of Portland created a better and close-knit community than many communities we see in general.

This is what Wasserman and Clair were experiencing in the encampments of Alabama in their ethnographic research on “At Home on the Street.” These encampments are often better ran than some of our social service projects. This could be a sign that we need to shift social service techniques and come up with better more progressive movements in helping shelter the homeless. Clearly they can do it on their own, when allowed the space to do so. What is interesting about the encampment in Portland, is that it cost the city absolutely nothing to give them that empty lot. The encampment is fully functional and disrupts no one in the city. I think one aspect of this article that I found interesting is the belief that these homeless function differently than other humans in society. The discourse in the article shows a dehumanization of these homeless, I suggest taking a look.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-oe-0124-totten-portland-homeless-dignity-village-20160124-story.html

The book presentations this week repeatedly pointed out the obvious issue of homelessness in our country. While each book was centered around different themes, they were all able to demonstrate that there is something which is being done wrong. The laws that are currently in place are not doing enough to keep homeless people off the streets, nor are they providing enough support for those people. The programs that are constantly referred to are not doing things right. Several groups pointed out that society is focusing on short term rehabilitation when the focus should be long term. In other words, having the missions of these programs be more permanent rather than temporary will bring significant results in the homeless population.

Very few people realize that in order to better understand homelessness, the issue needs to be looked at from a social and economic perspective rather than blaming the individual. For example the affordability of housing is a major issue that has driven several Americans to end up on the streets. This has brought up the question which is whether society should foes on fixing the housing situation or to first attempt to fix the individual. It is very difficult to keep a constant rate of progress when the programs helping these individuals are throwing them back in the streets to fend for themselves. The constant cycle of homelessness is proof of this. In conclusion, in order to improve the issue of homelessness, programs need to change their attitudes and work towards a more long term process while the government focuses on housing first and support later. This kind of approach will give the homeless, the resources and tools that they need in order to end the cycle of homelessness.

According to the article Seattle Underbelly Exposed as Homeless Violence Flares by Kirk Johnson, a homeless camp is making Seattle headlines. The homeless camp known as “the jungle”, is the largest camp in the city and is well-known. The reason for this is because over four thousand homeless men and women inhabit it. The camp is surrounded by trash and dirt, and the living conditions are terrible. However, the cleanliness of the area is the least of the problems people face there. Within the past five years, the Jungle has requested law enforcement over 820 times. There has been 70 violent incident crimes, 500 emergency medical calls and 250 fires. Camp resident Darrel Sutton explains that ha has been assaulted twice, and has since always watched his back. He explained that he never feels safe at the camp, but he has nowhere else to go. The locals of the city have stated that they think te camp is an embarrassment, and cannot believe the city allows the “human wasteland” to exist. The area is so dangerous that fire fighters  cannot not even enter the area to relinquish a fire without a police escort. Many believe that the camp needs to be eliminated and the people removed. In fact, city officials are planning to create an 8000 foot chain link fence around the area so that homeless people cannot enter. However, Mayor Murray has a different idea, one that consists of building an authorized camping area for the homeless. While reading this article, i could not help but notice that the locals and city officials blame the homeless people for the jungle, and not themselves. They do not consider the ways they can help the people who live there, just themselves. I do not believe that building a fence will help the issue, but instead make the issue more apparent since all 4000 people will have to relocate all over the city. Hopefully the city does in fact create the authorized camping area for the homeless.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/us/seattle-homeless-jungle-camp.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FHomeless%20Persons&version=latest&contentPlacement=3&_r=0&module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=U.S.&action=keypress&region=FixedLeft&pgtype=article

After listening to all the presentations today I realized how much I have learned so far about homelessness and poverty. Then it dawned on me that if it took almost an entire class to learn about homelessness and poverty how do we expect the rest of America to fix the problem if they don’t even understand the basics. It appears that most of the books and conversations we have had so far direct us to educate one another and ourselves on the issue in order to combat the problems. Seems pretty logical right? But how do you do that? Homelessness and poverty does not come up in my day-to-day conversations except with other people who I know are interested in sociology. I can’t imagine homelessness and poverty easily come up in others conversations as well. So this leads me to the question of how can we as college students begin to discuss and educate others and ourselves about this? Perhaps each of us can attempt to discuss homelessness and poverty in person with at least two people a week. Maybe week can create a fundraiser with education built in. Maybe we can even create a regular homelessness and poverty seminars with an incentive to come. There are so many possibilities to try and inform and discuss homelessness and poverty around us yet it is alarming that we don’t. How can we as students right now discuss and inform others about poverty and homelessness (other than the teaching project)?

Homelessness is not just a national issue, but a global issue that as a society we have to tackle. According to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights there are over 100 million people that are homeless. Depending on the country, state, or city, reforms and policies are decided by those in government, those in office need to advocate for changes so that the homeless are equipped with the resources they need in order to be successful. For example, Moscow’s homeless population is increasingly steadily yet there has been no action taken to confront this issue, while cities such as Phoenix and San Francisco have taken initiative in aiding their poor, they give their poor newspapers to sell on the streets. The fifteen most homeless cities in the world in ascending order are: Athens, Phoenix, San Francisco, Washington D.C, Boston,Sao Paulo, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Jakarta, Mexico City, Moscow, Los Angeles, New York City and Manila. With over 700,000 people on the streets and over 1 million children in the country, Manila tops the list with the city with the most homeless. Recently, Pope Francis visited the Philippines and authorities rounded up children off the streets and locked them in cages!!! The justification was that they did not want a gang of beggars to approach the Pope. The inhumane treatment of the homeless is seen throughout the world. Mexico City places fifth on the list, they have over 30,000 homeless on the streets, with 50% being children. The contributing factors of children living on the streets is due to physical abuse and family breakdown. While those in Budapest, face legal jail time due to laws enforcing homelessness as being illegal. Homelessness is not just in our backyard, but around the world. 

http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/poorest-list/the-15-most-homeless-cities-in-the-world/

In an effort to reduce homelessness, LA officials are looking to increase sales taxes or place new taxes on medical marijuana or the income of millionaires. Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority surveys stated that, “The city and county adopted parallel plans last month to address the growing homelessness problem. The number of people sleeping in shelters, on the streets, in cars and in makeshift encampments increased 12% countywide from 2013 to 2015, to more than 44,000.”

The city is making further attempts to reduce homelessness. For example, the county set aside about $150 million to pay for its plan over the next two years, and is devoting about $30 million this year to homelessness programs. After learning so much about homelessness, it’s great to see that the LA county is finally enforcing plans to do something about it. However, fixing this problem is not going to be cheap. City analysts projected that it would cost at least $1.85 billion over the next decade to create the needed housing, not including the the price of providing services. The city is asking voters to decide on two separate funding initiatives.

The county created 5 funding options that they reported last Wednesday. This includes, “a parcel tax; redirection of some money from Measure B, a countywide tax for trauma care; a new tax on medical — and perhaps in the future, recreational — marijuana; an increase in the countywide transaction and use tax; and a new “millionaire’s tax” on personal income over $1 million, like the one that currently funds mental health services around the state.”

The county has laid out it’s plan and now it is up to the voters to decide how to tackle this problem. There’s no doubt that the problem must be addressed and I believe is the responsibility of everyone to take action on this.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-county-homeless-funding-20160309-story.html

The organization in which I am working at provides medical services, dental services, weekly food boxes, clothing, bagged lunches for the homeless, hygiene kits, monthly homeless community dinners, AA meetings, GED classes, computer classes, and job coaching classes to local low-income and homeless individuals. This organization has strong religious ties and is funded completely by donations and volunteers. Working for the food pantry on the weekly food distribution is the most insightful opportunity I’ve had so far. Three hundred to four hundred low-income families come and wait in a long line in front of the organization for their weekly food box or sack lunch. Many individuals come early to claim their space in line with lawn chairs. There is one security guard to ward off any impatient or potentially harmful individuals. The security guard makes the long line full of families, homeless, and volunteers wait to enter the building until they open and are ready to being distribution. Before they open, there will often be a homeless man or two knocking on the front door until the guard lets them come in to use the restroom. The homeless often leave their carts or valuables out front in the care of others or the security guard, while they wait in line for their lunches, hygiene kits, and bathrooms. While they do not provide showers for homeless, the organization refers them to another organization where they offer showers.
Many of these volunteers have and still use/d the organizations aid and a few have even been homeless. These individuals desire to give back the organization that has helped them, and they are usually of the same faith. Their stories tell a dramatic tale of their struggles with alcohol, health, family issues, as well as personal economic catastrophes. They credit the organization and most importantly god, for helping them through their time of need. On several occasions while working at the food pantry, volunteers and employees have stated “they get what we give them”, “beggars can’t be choosers”, or stating that the poor need to put their faith in god and work harder to make it out of their situations. This is disturbing since these individuals are an aid organization providing for these families and individuals in need, yet they do not see the larger societal structure oppressing these individuals that led to being in need. It may be that I have worked along side and spoke to the few volunteers that believe this, however, this lack of larger structural knowledge among some volunteers still has an effect on the organization.
I am excited to continue speaking with the volunteers and staff, as well as to begin conversing with the hundreds of families and homeless individuals that come through the organization each week. I am particularly excited to participate in this month’s homeless dinner, in which I will be able to prepare, serve, and eat dinner with local homeless individuals. This will allow me to understand the homeless’ view of the organization as well as what it means to be homeless in this town.