by Matthew Zipple

Created on: November 01, 2009   Last Updated: November 02, 2009

When considering the complex issue of homelessness in America, we must accept certain facts. First, 16% of those without homes suffer from mental disorders that prevent them from either obtaining or maintaining a steady job on their own. Second, 63% of homeless women are homeless because of domestic abuse. Third, a lack of affordable health care can bankrupt any uninsured middle class family, plunging them into debt, and leading them to the streets. Finally, addictions to drugs and alcohol have significant effects on the rates of homelessness. All of these factors are solved by homeless shelters.

Homeless shelters provide aid and support to those with mental disabilities. They help these people find jobs, and through constant support and supervision help them to keep these jobs, and eventually prepare them to continue their jobs on their own. Shelters provide a safe-haven for women that are the victims of domestic abuse. Homeless shelters for women keep these them safe from their abusive husbands and boyfriends, and get them on the right road to a successful life. Shelters sever the attachment that women have with their domestic abusers, because they destroy the belief that women need these damaging men to provide money, food, and housing.

Shelters provide free medical attention to those in need. A single injury or illness, the result of no fault of the individual, can lead to thousands of dollars in debt, loss of a job, and even foreclosure or eviction. With one in three Americans uninsured, and over 26 million uninsured minors, this nightmare becomes reality for middle class working families everyday.

Finally, homeless shelters eliminate the leading cause of homelessness from the impoverished people's lives; substance abuse. Homeless shelters do not allow the use of drugs or alcohol by any of their residents at any time. And because these residents don't want to be back out on the street, they will do anything, including quitting cold turkey, to stay in the shelter. Without the lurking shadow of addiction in their lives, the homeless can restart their lives, keep a steady job, and contribute to society.

While homeless shelters may not need all of the needs of the least fortunate in society, and may not be numerous enough to provide for all of the homeless people in our nation, they act to eradicate homelessness at its roots. They work to help those with mental disabilities, victims of abuse, the ill and injured, and drug and alcohol addicts, and aid them in seeking a better tomorrow.

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