Housing Policies: Tackling the Nclba

Housing Policies:

Tackling the NCLBA

Angela Roberts

July 6, 2015

HUM220 Ethics and Social Justice

Professor Benjamin Wall

Housing Policies: Tackling the NCLBA

Not only is the United States the wealthiest country in the world, it also has one of the worst homelessness situations in the world. More than 500,000 people live in their cars, on the streets, and in shelters every night of the week. This has become an unnatural phenomenon since the 1640’s. When a person was homeless then, it was believed by many that God had rendered them undeserving. In the 1820’s – 30’s, an abundant supply of hard working, able bodies moving to the cities to find work during the Industrial Revolution, was recorded. Most of them were hired, but some were not, which began a “pan handling” epidemic leading to a rise in the homeless. Also, low safety regulations initiated physical disabilities and death. Many of the disabled and widows, many with small or dependent children, had no one to offer any help or shelter to them. The first cases of homeless children were documented in the 1850’s. If their provider could no longer afford to provide for them, they were kicked out of the only home they knew to live on the streets and either make it or not.

During and after the Great Depression that began in 1929 and lasted until the early 1940’s, homelessness was common among the big cities. Many people were lucky enough to be able to live with relatives, some were not. Those that were not and that were jobless became homeless in the big cities. Homeless people went as far as building their own little cities, made out of home-made board shacks, called Hoovervilles. They had their own mayor and relied heavily on the protection contributed by leftwing groups and sympathetic officials. In the early 1940’s they were made to move, due to the land being needed for shipping facilities.

Although, conditions like unemployment and disability are major factors in producing homeless people, other...