No Cure For Homelessness
This tent city is just two blocks north of The Capitol building. It is at Union Station, one of the largest train stations in the U.S.
Story and photos by Gabriel McCrea.
Homeless: a person without a home, and therefore typically living on the streets.
FEB. 7, 2022: Homelessnes is a condition that is spreading rapidly through the United States and the world. I thought homeless people usually get where they are because of buying drugs and not cooperating at work or home. I also thought that Covid-19 had something to do with the large amount of tent cities I see downtown. During my two weeks of Christmas break, my family went to many museums and outdoor attractions. As I traveled from my house, I passed three tent cities before I even got to the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington DC. The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs annual 2020 count states that an estimated 580,000 Americans are experiencing homelessness. And something I find really scary is that the number of homeless children in DC rose from 6,260 in the years 2015-2016 to nearly 7,450 in 2017-2018. This is a 19 percent increase in homeless children. Here in Washington DC, because of Covid, free food, free masks, Covid testing and free school computers are being passed out. But where did all this free money come from and why can't we get people off of the street to somewhere warm.
This week Washington DC had a very large amount of snow and ice that brought down trees. Snow and ice could have gotten into the tents and could have caused hypothermia to the homeless. Hypothermia means a condition of having an abnormally low body temperature.
The photo above shows a notice from the National Park service to close a park that homeless people use.
I now know some of the main reasons for homelessnes are lack of affordable housing, unemployment, poverty, mental illness, the lack of needed services, and domestic abuse. That's why homeless shelters are all over the place in the United States to help homeless people get in a better condition. But shelters are still not solving the problem of homelessnes in the capital city of the United states which is the capital of the world.
Sources
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2020-AHAR-Part-1.pdf
Gabriel McCrea is a 5th grade scholar at Friendship Public Charter School Online.