How Should We Treat the Homeless? EssayI think that to treat all homeless people in one certain way would behard for me to do because there are many reasons for a person to be homeless,and some of them should be treated differently from others. I feel that therunaways and drug addicts don’t deserve as much as the unemployed and warveteran types. But I feel in my heart that all people with no homes, or livesfor that matter, should get some sort of help to survive and get back on theirfeet so that they can become a pro-ductive member of society. Lars Eighner, a homeless man, wrote a book entitled “Travels withLizbeth: Three Years on the Road and on the Streets” in which he describes inone chapter “the process of scavenging Dumsters for food and othernecessities. ” Eighner states that even though he is homeless with not muchmoney, he still eats and sometimes finds money from scavenging Dumpsters.
Thisseems like a form of self-reliance for him. In his story, Eighner tells us what is safe to eat, how to tell if it issafe, and where to get the food. He states that a lot of people throw awayperfectly good food, and when they do he finds it. Eighner says the food “canbe evaluated with some confidence largely on the basis of appearance. ” In myopinion, I don’t care if the food looks perfect, I wouldn’t eat garbage unlessI was dying from hunger. But eating is only one problem facing the homeless.
Their secondpriority should be shelter. Where will they go if it is freezing or something?Many large cities have homeless shelters, but sometimes they get full and thelast to arrive might not be allowed in due to overcrowding according to firelaws. I wish that they would let these people sleep on the floor or somethingrather than sleep outside and freeze to death. I think that if the governmentcan’t help these people get back on their feet, then they should build largershelters to house all of them.
They could even serve more food at the sheltersso the homeless won’t have to eat garbage. I know my city is building a verylarge shelter to take in the homeless and I hope other cities follow. Homeless people have many problems to face. If this country wouldorganize more programs to help the homeless, we might see some really low-class”panhandlers” become productive citizens if they choose to. Then the people whohave been helped could help more homeless to get back on their feet.
It couldbe a chain of homeless helping homeless.History .
