Most recent ‘state of emergency’ in Hawaii reflects the increasing need to address homelessness on a person to person level.
The glare of “big news” too often blinds us from the stories that need our attention. This weekend, an emergency proclamation for efforts to reverse the level of homelessness in Hawaii was signed. Though with the aftershocks of the recent Democratic debate still being discussed and the next chapter of the Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian saga taking the spotlight, very little focus was on the social struggles of Hawaii.
The struggle with homelessness in Hawaii deserves the attention of anyone who can spare it because this struggle is not only Hawaii’s — it is faced by the entire United States. In September of this year, both the cities of Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon declared a “state of emergency” in regards to their increasing homeless populations.
Homelessness in this country has long been an epidemic that more often than not warrants stigma instead of a cure from those who could help to make a change. It is more comforting for many to simply turn away or cast blame on a person than it is to really look at the facts.
In 2013, the National Center on Family Homelessness reported that almost 2.5 million children were experiencing homelessness that year. The NCFM also found that of the population experiencing homelessness, 8 percent are veterans and that 37 percent were people in families. Which is to say that a large number of the people we are turning away from or blaming are either children, veterans, or people in families (with children), who, based on the conventional logic ‘everyone’ else lives by, would do whatever it takes to support their loved ones.
In a report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, findings showed that on a given night in 2014, approximately 578,000 people were experiencing homelessness. Nearly 12,000 of those people are homeless in the state of Ohio according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. This fight is ours — it is in our home too.
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So, what is being done to aid the population that is experiencing homelessness in the U.S.? Unfortunately, the government implemented the Opening Doors system in 2010 to house and help those experiencing homelessness, but because of recent budget cuts, the date goal to end chronic homelessness has been pushed back two years to 2017. These people don’t know what tomorrow or the next night will look like for them. They may not have two years. Or in two years, the costs of handling this situation could be much higher than they are now that the government will need even more time. It is time now to change the system that turns away from so many.
If we have the time for political and entertainment TV drama or the money for a Saturday game day or a night out, then why are we turning away from the people who we have the power to save? Because if it was you, wouldn’t you welcome the goodness of another? How close to home does it need to get before we stop turning away and instead outstretch our helping hands?
Anna Ayers is a freshman studying journalism and finance. What do you think would help the homelessness crisis? Email her at aa183414@ohio.edu.
