Random Student
Professor Traywick
Language 120
21 February 20XX
Homelessness in New York City
Comment [U1]: There’s a lot of white space here
you can close up. Makes it look like you’re
stretching the paper.
“I never imagined the possibility of being homeless”. Growing up, It never really hit me that so
many people are without shelter. The fact is, there are millions of homeless in America today. Many of
these people had no choice but to become homeless. When ever I am walking on the street in the city
there is never a time when I don't see someone with out a home just living on a sidewalk carrying all
Comment [U2]: Are you talking about New York
City? If so, you should probably say so. And this
would be a great chance to describe in details some
of those people. I’d like to be able to “see” them as
well.
their belongings with them which could be stolen at any time. There must be some way that the
number of people without homes can be reduced.
Comment [UNCA3]: Can you include a hint here
at the end of the introduction about what solution
you are proposing? At this point, it sounds like you
don’t have a solution but really hope that someone
comes up with one.
Here are some statistics that display how much of a problem poverty and homelessness is: Each
year 100,000 New Yorkers experience homelessness. Nearly 1-in-20 New York City residents have
experienced homelessness. More than one-in-four children in NYC live in poverty. A typical homeless
child is under 5 years old. Over half of homeless mothers in New York City have a history of domestic
violence. Almost 17% of residents of the single adult shelter system are employed.
Economic problems such as being laid off work, or the rise in the cost of living had lead people
Comment [U4]: Where did these stats come
from? You’ll have to cite your sources here.
Comment [U5]: Cause 1
to live on the streets. Some of the homeless are women that have become divorced or have left home
Comment [U6]: Cause 2
because of abusive relationships. Others have no education because they have not been given the
Comment [U7]: Cause 3
chance to go to school and get the education that it takes nowadays to get a job, so they are forced to
live on the streets. Some have no family to help them and they are left with no other choice. People
Comment [U8]: Cause 4
with mental illnesses have greater susceptibility to become homeless. These people are incapable of
Comment [U9]: Cause 5
handling the stress of living on their own. When the mentally handicapped people get kicked out of
their homes and are believed to be able to care for themselves you find them struggling on the streets to
stay warm and are to ashamed to go to their families because of their illness. Teenage mothers are also
Comment [U10]: Cause 6
forced to live on the streets because their families will not help them. These teenage mothers soon turn
to prostitution in order to feed and provide for their children. The fathers are not there to help support
them and that forces them to live on the streets. There are many other people that become homeless for
many different reasons. Some of these people can not help becoming homeless. Some of these people
are the illegal immigrants that come here from other places to get a better life but end up not having
Comment [U11]: Cause 7
enough money to make it in this hard world that we live in. Teenage runaways have different reasons
Comment [U12]: Cause 7
for leaving home but all have the same reason for becoming homeless. They simply just do not have
enough money. Others are drug and alcohol abusers and disabled people. With this list of people there
Comment [U13]: Cause 8
Comment [U14]: Cause 9
must be some way that we can help them.
There has been numerous programs that have been available to help these homeless, but have
Comment [UNCA15]: There are LOTS of
causes of homelessness listed here. In order to
develop your ideas more, consider grouping them
into a couple of categories and breaking this
information into several paragraphs.
Economic issues could one issue, mental health and
drug abuse another, relationship issues a third?
only succeeded in the short run and have failed in the long run. There has been homelessness in
America ever since the colonial times and not much progress has been made in the 200 plus years in
helping these people. We have adopted programs such as FDR's New Deal in which the government
Comment [U16]: This is an interesting idea. Can
you expand on it and explain where the idea came
from?
produced more jobs that took little skill, and made these jobs available to the poor. Social Security is
still in effect today. HUD housing has been available also to the homeless and the poor. We also have
AFDC (Aid to Families with Dependent Children) and Welfare which gives federal money to homeless
and poor and helps them get back on their feet. But these programs seem more to help the poor with
homes and not the poor without homes. We must think of ways to help the poor without homes, the
Comment [U17]: Good point. Perhaps your topic
sentence for the paragraph needs to make this
distinction about what kind of help is available.
homeless.
There are many shelters were the homeless can go to get out of the cold and sleep on a cot
instead of a bench or the hard ground, but families sometimes find it dangerous to sleep there in fear
that the few possessions that they do own will be stolen. We should make these places safer for the
Comment [U18]: Solution 1
homeless, and set up programs within these shelters that will help the homeless find jobs and homes.
Comment [U19]: Solution 2
Locks should be installed on rooms inside shelters and safes installed in each room to put valuables in
just like in hotel rooms. We could have the vacant apartment buildings that do not seem to be sold soon
Comment [U20]: Solution 3
and have the homeless stay there so that they have an address to get their selves a job. A system should
be setup within these vacant apartments where if any damage is done or things are not kept in
acceptable order your name will appear on a blacklist banning you from this program. Everyone has a
chance but once you blow it you are not allowed a second one. Job centers should be set up in areas
Comment [U21]: Solution 4
that have a high population of homeless people. In these centers, applications should be separated by
different areas of expertise that way all sorts of people have a chance to find jobs that suit them. These
job openings should also be expected to hire those without homes that way people are not just wasting
their time filling out these forms. A certain number from each application should be designated for
homeless only. We could take some of the money that we are using to set up these little shelters in
specific areas, and set up larger ones in the city where they are needed them the most. There should be
more incentive to volunteer at soup kitchens that way the the twenty five hundred people turned away
Comment [U22]: Solution 5
each day have something to eat. We could all volunteer a little of our time to serve dinners to these
people and to help build homes for the homeless. We could give a little of our money to those who have
none. A little of our time will go a long way.
Homelessness is a big problem in city’s today, but there are very few programs set up to help
them. Programs need to be set up that are accessible to those without shelter or means of transportation.
Comment [U23]: Like the paragraph about the
causes, this paragraph is very long and includes
many ideas. I applaud you for thinking of so many
ideas, but can you divide these potential solutions
into several paragraph so you will have room to
develop some the ideas further?
Employers need to set up jobs for the homeless and hire those which are qualified. We all need to work
together and create incentive to volunteer to help those less fortunate because you would want someone
to help you if you were in that position, so we should do our best to help them.
Sources:
Comment [U24]: I think I see the problem:
Because you’ve tried to cover so much ground here,
the essay still sounds vague: There are some causes
of homelessness, there are some potential solutions,
and something really should be done about it.
The trouble is, that statement is so broad that no one
will really argue with you. Perhaps if you choose just
one or two solutions to target one or two causes,
your essay would be more focused and welldeveloped. And choosing one or two solutions
creates an argument: you would have to argue that
one of these solutions is better than the others, and
that’s where we should spend our limited dollars.
"Statistics - Hunger & Homelessness In New York City." YSOP- Youth Service Opportunities Project.
Web. 21 Feb. 2011. <http://www.ysop.org/statistics.htm>.
"Why Do People Become Homeless." Walk for the Homeless. Web. 21 Feb. 2011.
<http://www.walkforthehomeless.net/Why_Do_ People_Become_Homeless.htm>.
Comment [U25]: So you do have some sources,
but you haven’t cited them in the essay.