Numbers Don't Lie

 Numbers Don't Lie

Homelessness in the US increased by 12% in 2023 reaching a total 653,104 people on the streets or in shelters. There are over 15 million unoccupied residences (either home or rental units) in the US. One solution I can think of would be to house the homeless individuals in the unoccupied residences and have the government guarantee the rent to the homeowners (similar to section 8). This policy would incentivise property owners to find homeless tenants for their unoccupied dwelling so they could start making some money in the form of rent from the government. Doing this would enable the homeless people to not have to worry about finding shelter and how they are going to make it through today and perhaps give them the opportunity to build a life for themselves from a stable foundation. In Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Fast & Slow” he highlights the increase in happiness that an individual receives when their basic needs (food, shelter, healthcare) are met is exponentially greater than subsequent increases, for example going from earning $100,000 to $250,000 a year. This points out to me how essential it should be to get the hundreds of thousands of people off the street and into the unoccupied dwellings. For the sake of argument I will lay out the benefits from a capitalist standpoint rather than a humanitarian standpoint. When individuals do not have a solid foundation, they are unable to take care of themselves. When they are not able to take care of themselves consistently, it is detrimental to their mental and physical well-being. This causes many people to turn to drugs & alcohol as a way to cope. I’m sure you can relate, how many times have you had a stressful day at work and you need a drink? How many arguments with your significant other end with a beer or bourbon on rocks? Over time due to the addictive nature of alcohol and the many drugs on the market today (thanks big Pharma) people develop an addiction. Once you are addicted it doesn’t matter what resources you have at your disposal, it can be very difficult to beat. Now imagine you are addicted and on the street. It becomes even more difficult to care for yourself and you become solely reliant on shelters and food banks. The answer lies in supporting people before they turn to alcohol and drugs. The investment needs to come in rehabilitating people and setting them up for success. Helping them find their unique gift and to show them they can contribute to the world. We all have a light inside of us that deserves to be seen. Many people's light has been stomped out because it wasn’t profitable in our modern society. We need to stop looking at people as profit making machines and instead see them for the human beings they are. By giving people a foundation we enable them to start to build themselves into the people they want to become. The people who have experienced the most loss and difficult times are often the first people to help others because they know what it's like. These 600,000+ people deserve our support and when they get back on their feet they will repay our investment in them tenfold with the good they pour back into their communities. Our society conditions us to de-humanize the homeless. We can’t individually help every homeless person we see so we walk past homeless people everyday. I can’t continue on in a society that doesn’t value human life more than money. I can’t fix the housing crisis, although I think my plan would work, it certainly would be an improvement. I founded Cherry WIllow Apparel to show the world how beautiful its homeless citizens are. The people on the street are no different than people who are in homes. They are brave, they face the unknown everyday. They are strong, they’ve been weathered by a society that has outcast them. They are kind, many will give what little they have to people that have less. Please consider supporting the homeless by showing them you care. Engage with them and share their stories. Buy some really cool merchandise that gives back to those who are the most vulnerable in our society. Think about how a homeless person would feel when they see you supporting a brand that was created for them. Even if you don’t engage with them they’ll know you support ending homelessness and hopefully that will bring a smile to their face. The world could use a few more smiling people and by supporting Cherry Willow Apparel you can bring a smile to someone who could use one! Citations: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/15/homelessness-in-america-grew-2023/71926354007/https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/#homelessness-trends-over-timehttps://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-vacant-homes-are-there-in-the-us/

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