Reflexion by the authors of the blog.

It is important to recognize that understanding homelessness requires a grasp of several social issues: poverty, affordable housing, disability, and others. Homelessness is simply when people or households are unable to acquire and/or maintain housing they can afford. 

As they can afford the places where they live, they find a refugee on streets, becoming this, a very well known fact is that the 'Thrownaways' become Homelessnness people, also, these people are surrounded by stereotypes that, for many of those who are not living this, tend to judge them, without knowing how do they handle the negative situations in order to survive day by day.

On the other hand, some people use this as an excuse to solve their addiction to drugs, alcohol, etc, fortifying the stereotypes that the society have of them, other thing that they do is to steal for just the consumption of these substances. 

Different organizations that are helping to these people need to have domething on mind: to provide people with shelter is the concept of providing people with a home, a safe and permanent place to reside, homelessness and houselesness are not so different at all, one group need a solid structure to survive, the other one, just need a group of people who can make these people to fell like 'in home'.

Reflective video about "houseless people".

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Campus moviefest. (2013) Houseless but no homeless. Youtube. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOxgJM9yckw

Reflective video about "homeless people".

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Gosh O. (2015) Asking homeless people for money. Youtube. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyd9JP715T4

Posible solutions of "homelessness" and "houselessness".

We can end the homelessness and houselessness crisis!

By stabilizing people through shelter, moving them into permanent housing, and implementing assistance programs to keep them in their housing, we can not only reduce, but eliminate, homelessness in New York City.

• For homeless people, shelter from the elements can be a matter of life and death. The right to shelter is a vital legal protection for homeless individuals, families and children. Without this crucial safeguard, vulnerable homeless people would be at severe risk of death or injury on the streets and in other public spaces. 

• More than three decades ago, Coalition for the Homeless won a landmark legal victory that established the right to shelter for homeless people in New York City. 

• Many of the most successful housing-based policies designed to address the homelessness crisis in particular, permanent supportive housing for individuals living with disabilities and other special needs were pioneered in New York City and have been replicated throughout the country. 

• Numerous research studies have consistently confirmed that long-term housing assistance not only successfully reduces homelessness it is also less expensive than shelter and other institutional care. 

There are several programs that have been proven successful in preventing homelessness for low income families and individuals. One successful approach involves eviction-prevention grants to help tenants at risk of becoming homeless pay back rent and remain in their apartments. As apartment rents continue to rise and earnings for workers at the low end of the pay scale stagnate, more of our neighbors find themselves on the border of eviction. The overwhelming majority are working families who fell behind in their rent after experiencing sudden medical costs, a death in the family or loss of employment. Providing financial assistance for rental arrears helps potentially homeless families stay in their apartments.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Proven Solutions (2014). Coallition for the Homeless. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in: http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/ending-homelessness/proven-solutions/

Consequences of the "homelessness" and "houselessness".

Homelessness and houselesness have a serious impact on both the young people affected and the wider society. Young people describe their lives as being 'on hold' while they are homeless or houseless , making it much harder for them to achieve their goals and ensure their own well-being.

1. Health- homeless people often encounter a lot of health issues in their lives. Their health gets worse from time to time because they lack attention from people such as doctors, wives, husbands, and family members. And because of lack of necessities they suffer from multiple diseases such as:

·         Cold Injury

·         Cardio-Respiratory diseases

·         Tuberculosis.

·         Skin diseases

·         Nutritional deficiencies

·         Sleep deprivation.

·         Mental Illness

·         Physical and sexual assault

·         Drug dependency

·         Mortality

·         HIV/AIDS

2. Personal – at the time when a homeless person realizes that he/she won’t have a roof to live under forever. It is hard for them to believe. It is this fact of not dealing with reality that makes homeless people less able to take actions, but they suffer psychologically as a result.

·         Becoming institutionalized

·         Increase in substance misuse

·         Loss of ability and will to care for oneself

·         Increased danger of abuse and violence

·         Increased chance of entering the criminal justice system

·         Development of behavioral problems

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Top Causes of Homelessness in America (2007). Home Aid America. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in:http://www.homeaid.org/homeaid-stories/69/top-causes-of-homelessness

Incidence of "homelessness" and "houselessness".

HOMELESSNESS

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s June 2010 Annual Homeless

Assessment Report to Congress (2010 AHAR)1, on a given night in January 2010:

• 407,966 individuals were homeless in shelters, transitional housing programs, or on the streets (this number does not include persons in family households).
• 109,812 individuals were chronically homeless, a 1% decrease from the previous year

Over the course of a year (October 2009-September 2010), the 2010 AHAR found that:

• 1,593,150 individuals experienced homelessness.

Among all sheltered individuals over the course of a year (October 2009-September 2010):

• 62% were male
• 38% were female

On a given night in January 2010:

• 109,812 individuals were chronically homeless

Of people utilizing emergency shelters between October 2009 and September 2010, 6.2% stayed for 6 months or longer.

HOUSELESSNESS

Most common reasons for houselessness (Supported Accommodation Assistance Program survey):

• Domestic and family violence (22%)
• Eviction/previous accommodation ended (11%)
• Relationship/family breakdown (11%)
• Usual accommodation unavailable (11%)
• Financial Difficulty (10%)

The most common reasons for each client group are:

Male alone, aged under 25:

• Usual accommodation unavailable (16.7%)
• Relationship/family breakdown (16.5%)

Male alone, aged 25 or over:

• Financial difficulty (15.4 %)
• Usual accommodation unavailable (14.9%)

Female alone, aged under 25:

• Relationship/family breakdown (21.5%)
• Domestic violence (12.3 %)
• Female alone, aged 25 or over
• Domestic and Family Violence (43.9%)

Couple with no children:

• Eviction/accommodation ended (21%)
• Financial difficulty (14%)

Couple with children:

• Eviction/accommodation ended (26.7%)
• Usual accommodation unavailable (14.1%)

Male with children:

• Eviction/accommodation ended (20.9%)
• Relationship/relationship breakdown (17.7%)

Female with children:

• Domestic and Family Violence (51.8%)
• Eviction/accommodation ended (9.1%)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Paquette A. (2011) Current Statistics on the Prevalence and Characteristics of People Experiencing Homelessness in the United States. Substance abuse and mental health services administration. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: http://homeless.samhsa.gov/ResourceFiles/hrc_factsheet.pdf
• Rebeccas community. Homeless statistics. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: http://www.homeless.org.au/statistics/

What causes homelessness and houselessness people?

Personal causes of homelessness and houselessness:

A number of different personal and social factors can contribute towards people becoming homeless. These may include one or more of the following:

• Individual factors including lack of qualifications, lack of social support, debts - especially mortgage or rent arrears, poor physical and mental health, relationship breakdown, and getting involved in crime at an early age. 

• Family background including family breakdown and disputes, sexual and physical abuse in childhood or adolescence, having parents with drug or alcohol problems, and previous experience of family homelessness. 

• An institutional background including having been in care, the armed forces, or in prison. 

Tackling these problems is a complex business and normally requires support from public bodies, friends and family, combined with a lot of hard work from the individual or family in trouble. Public support might include intervention, advice, counselling, training or provision of alternative accommodation by a local authority where appropriate.

However, in all instances Shelter believes these problems can be best resolved when the person or family in question has a decent and secure home

Structural causes of homelessness and houselessness:

Structural causes of homelessness are social and economic in nature, and are often outside the control of the individual or family concerned.

These may include:

• unemployment 
• poverty 
• a lack of affordable housing 
• housing policies 
• the structure and administration of housing benefit 
• wider policy developments, such as the closure of long-stay psychiatric hospitals. 

These problems require long-term policy solutions such as changes in the housing benefit system, the building of more affordable homes, and ensuring that a wider cross-section of society benefits from the fruits of economic growth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Why are people homeless? (2014). The Salvation Army. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in: http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/en/Who-We-Are/our-work/Homelessness/Why-are-people-homeless/ 
• Top Causes of Homelessness in America (2007). Home Aid America. Recovered in: June 1st, 2015. Available in: http://www.homeaid.org/homeaid-stories/69/top-causes-of-homelessness 

Homelessness and Houselessness; exist a difference?

Homelessness

An individual who lacks housing, without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family, including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility like shelters, that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.

Houselessnes

This word make reference to the condition of being without a house, or any place to refuge. 

The main difference between this words is that the word "homelessness" refers not just the lack of an own place for live as make the word "houselessness", if not also the lack of "home" like an old saying "home is where the heart is” is quite valid and true. Just because a homeless person is in shelter or sleeping on a friend’s couch, or living in a cheap motel, doesn’t mean he or she is not still homeless.

That means to "homelessness" include not just an material aspect about "house" that is included in "houselessness" if not also an emotional value.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Houselessness definition. English dictionary. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/houselessness
• What is the official definition of homelessness?. National health care for the homeless council. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: https://www.nhchc.org/faq/official-definition-homelessness
• Wordpress. (2007) Houseless and homeless; not same thing. Oldtimer speaks out. Recovered in: May 30th 2015. Available in: https://oldtimer.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/houseless-and-homeless-not-same-thing/