Personal Narrative- Joy in Helping the Homeless Essay

As Greg blew into his saxophone, the sad song wafted out into the auditorium. He began to remember his past, his parents dying, him becoming homeless and finding a saxophone on the street and learning how to play it without no help, people throwing money in the bucket when Greg’s playing the saxophone. Thanking the man who heard him playing the instrument on the street and made him an artist, and making him the man he is today, the life he never expected. Going through all the incidents he went through his life, the bad times of him sleeping on the streets, no food, begging on the streets playing the saxophone. Greg is 45 today, it is Greg’s last concert and his birthday, he is dressed up in a black suit with a red tie, his bald head shining

As human beings we are very diverse. We vary from numerous backgrounds, ethnicities, morals, and cultures. However, as much as we are unique, we all share one common goal in life. Everyone has a desire for happiness. I found that throughout my daily life I based my decision off of what would make me happy, whether it was for a long or short period of time. Often happiness is associated with successfulness and achievement. Though, like the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”, happiness can be found in different ways by different people. This along with reading The Driest Season by Meghan Kenny, is what influenced me to want to find out more about happiness, if it is truly attainable, and how people achieve it.

Homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. This terrible misfortune has led to many unsuspecting people leading impoverished lifestyles, and facing the horrific and heart-wrenching tragedy of abandonment. The purpose of this essay is to not only persuade the readers to get involved in ending homelessness on local and national efforts, but to embrace new and creative ways of helping to end this rapidly growing problem, by taking action to end this catastrophic situation. Also, I will demonstrate the causes and effects of the homeless resorting to violence, by using comparison and contrast to examine the views and standpoints on helping the forgotten, so that we might end this calamity once and for all. In an increasingly

In this paper, I will focus on the topic of why veterans are coming back homeless. Veterans are seen as a savior of the country they are risking their lives for every day, so why is it that they are coming back from tours and service and ultimately ending up homeless? Since 2009 the United States stated that in five years they would end veteran homeless, but the United States is still facing veteran homelessness in the year 2017. Though the homeless rates of veterans have gone down since then, why are veterans still facing homelessness if so many resources are supposed to be available for them. Is there more than meets the eye when it comes to homelessness especially with veterans, yes. Many things can attribute to this continuing issue such as lack of assistances provided, mental illnesses, PTSD, lack or loss of support from being deployed, the use of drugs and alcohol as coping strategies, and the economics.

We currently have over a half a million people, a quarter of which are children, living on the streets. Those are numbers we should all feel ashamed of, god knows I do, which is why I have taken in so many over the years. But, even as your beloved Dictator, I can't take them all in personally, so we're going to have to do this wholesale. Now, before we begin, I want to address a few things about being homeless.

As a kid I had always lived in well diversified areas. I didn't care who you were or what you looked like, I was raised to treat everyone the same. I wasn't personally exposed to the idea of inequality until I was in middle school. I had always imagined that everyone just had jobs and lived their daily lives. I didn't quite grasp the extent of the idea that people can die, be homeless, be criminals, or racists. I also didn't grasp how great the people of our society can be. That was until my parents told me about the first times they had in America coming from Mexico. I don't remember what I said or did to provoke these stories, but they were surely eye opening.

The word “homeless” is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients (Martin, 1999). In “Helping and Hating the Homeless”, Peter Martin claims that although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a “home”, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being “homeless”. He addresses his readers, those that pass by

There’s no need for a rubbish introduction to start with. I hate my bus, full stop. No strings attached. To be totally honest, there are no positives at all in this presentation. So if you are one of those people who think that there is a good in everything, I suggest that you stop reading this and continue with your life. Goodbye!

It was a bright and sunny day in Downtown Iowa City. I limped my sore, broken down body between the alleys, craving the shade of buildings to get some time out of the beating hot sun. I can sense the wondering eyes of many people immediately lock into mine as I walk onto the busy sidewalk. I get paranoid and overwhelmed thinking of everything people could potentially be thinking about me. I have never been the type to care of what others think of me. That is only until I made my ways to becoming homeless. ¨You are just a druggie who can’t keep a job,¨ many have shouted at me. Funny thing is they don’t know is why I am even here in the first place. I ran away when I was 16. My Dad abused my Mom, two little sisters and Me. I’ve been

I want to be remembered as someone special. I want everyone to remember who I was. I want to be an actress, so I would like to have the legacy like most hollywood stars have, but not the infamous kind. I want to be remembered as someone who helped others. I don’t want to be the person who goes and spends their money just on fancy cars, or houses. I want to take what I have, and use it to help others.

Dropping Mr. Potato Head, I dash for the door. Down the stairs, I sprint as my heart rate increases and worst-case scenario thoughts infiltrate my brain. I peek into the office. Nothing. Where could she be? I check the kitchen, then the living room — still no sign of my mom. Could she be hurt, or worse, dead? To the basement, I continue my search, but my efforts are to no avail. I sit down, defeated and terrified that I am home alone.

Every year approximately 2.3 to 3.5 million people go homeless in the United States of America. Twelve million adults in the US were homeless in the year 2001, or are still currently without a permanent home (“Homelessness in the U.S.”). How does this happen in “the land of opportunity?” We think of ourselves as one of the greatest nations in the world, yet citizens are living a life of poverty, often without food, clothing, and shelter. When most people think of fighting homelessness, they think of providing medical assistance, showers, and counseling services for those who suffer mental illness, trauma, and substance abuse. Although these necessities are imperative in helping a significant

My friends often describe me as a cynic and a pessimist. For the most part, they're right. Sentiment loses value when it permeates one's attitudes and behavior just as the value of a commodity decreases as it becomes ubiquitous, so as a rule I reserve expressing sentiment for rare occasions that I deem worthy. Fortunately, even the harshest cynics are surprised sometimes.

The homeless stand down was an eye-opener experience for me. I had the opportunity to interact with several individuals, and one family. Initially I conducted some interviews with them to help complete the questionnaire; and the remainder of the time, I escorted the individuals and helped them choose items that were necessary for them. As I talked to each of them, I realized that the present state of these individuals were a product of the current economic situations. According to the National Homeless Coalition (2009), work factors are one of the many reasons why individuals are homeless. One of the individuals that I spoke to informed me that he was working a regular nine to five job at a construction site, but now due to the

The most common thing that comes to mind when someone mentions living in the United States is the “American Dream”. This dream including a family living in a house with a white picket fence around it. The grass is nice and green and everything seems simple and dandy; however, this is rarely seen. In cities there are often people on the street corners holding up signs that say “will work for food”, or something along those lines. The people holding these signs are apart of the growing population of homeless. Shelters that help the homeless are full and running out of resources. This may seem like a simple matter, at first glance, but it is actually quite complex. Communities are continuously struggling with