Сборник материалов международной научной конференции студентов, магистрантов, аспирантов

В.Э. Игнатович, Е.С. Вакулич

Республика Беларусь, Брест, БрГУ имени А.С. Пушкина

Научный руководитель – Н.В. Иванюк

HOMELESSNESS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Homelessness means people who do not have a place to stay. The word “homelessness” also includes people who sleep in warming centres, homeless shelters, or in abandoned buildings, parking garages, or other places not meant for humans to live in. Homelessness happens when people or households are unable to buy and/or maintain housing they can afford. In academic articles and government reports, these people are called “homeless people”. We may hear different words to describe homelessness and homeless people. Some of these words apply to people who might not be homeless. Sometimes they are based upon stereotypes. For instance, in slang, a vagabond is someone who travels without the money necessary to stay in good hotels. Such a person may or may not have a home somewhere. Sometimes police reports use the word “transient” to describe people from out of town or who are passing through. Many times these words confuse the issues because someone just passing through might own a mansion somewhere or might not. There are tough questions in sorting out homeless people even when trying to create programmes and services to help them. Homeless counts are required by the government agencies that deal with homelessness. In the USA, for instance, the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency requires a homeless “enumeration” count every two years. They classify “homeless” in a careful way and that way is very influential and a lot of other agencies and church groups copy it.

In the sixteenth century in England, the government first tried to give housing to vagabonds instead of punishing them. In the eighteenth century, these houses were replaced by workhouses. These were later replaced by dormitory housing (“spikes”). By the early 1930s in England, there were 30,000 people living in these places. In most countries, many towns and cities had an area where all the poor, transients, and afflicted lived, such as a “skid row”. In smaller towns, there were hobos, who camped near train tracks and hopped onto trains from place to place. Many places where people were once allowed to loiter (such as churches, public libraries and public atriums) became stricter as the number of homeless people grew. In the 1980s, in the United States, some new laws were made for the homeless as a result of the work of Congressman Stewart B. McKinney. In 1987, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was enacted. Several organisations in some cities, such as New York and Boston, tried to help the growing number of homeless people in a new way.

Housing and Urban Development spreads information about what works and what doesn't. That information is called “best practices”. HUD defines homeless as somebody who lacks a fixed, regular, and decent place to sleep at night or somebody who sleeps at night in a supervised shelter (including welfare hotels, homeless shelters, warming centres and transitional housing); place that provides a temporary residence for people waiting for space in a place like a hospital, jail or hospice; or a place not designed for human beings to sleep, such as parks or public streets.

Health care for the homeless is a major public health challenge. Homeless people are more likely to suffer injuries and medical problems from their lifestyle on the street. Quite a few drink or have addiction problems with drugs. Some have skin conditions from being out in the sun without sunscreen to protect themselves from UV radiation. It is hard to find places to wash up, and homeless people are exposed to extreme cold and hot sun. It is tough finding good food for many homeless people so they tend to suffer from medical conditions. This can include obesity if they eat a lot of poor quality food with empty calories. Homeless people also may have more severe dental problems than the general population due to lack of access to washrooms and in some cases excess intake of sweets, which may be the only food available. Diabetes and liver problems are not uncommon, as are diseases associated with cigarette smoking.

The number of homeless people worldwide has grown steadily in the past few years. In some Third World nations such as Brazil, India, Nigeria, and South Africa, homelessness is a very big problem, with millions of children living and working on the streets. Homelessness has also become a problem in China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan.

The Salvation Army is an international Christian organization that seeks to share the gospel of Jesus Christ while meeting the needs of people without discrimination. Their housing and homeless services include group homes, emergency shelters, and transitional living centres that provide housing, food, and overnight shelter. They also provide educational, counselling, and vocational services to individuals, youth, and families who are experiencing homelessness. Families and needy individuals are also able to access emergency food, housing, and utility assistance. Programmes and operations vary among the 7,546 centres across the United States, so individuals and families should contact their local Salvation Army through the national website to find out what is available.

Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. They often provide food, shelter and clothing and may be organized and run by community organisations (often with the help of volunteers) or by government departments. These programmes may be supported by government, charities, churches and individual donors. In 1998, a study by Koegel and Schoeni of a homeless population in Los Angeles, California, reported that a significant number of homeless do not participate in government assistance programmes, and the authors reported being puzzled as to why that was, with the only possible suggestion from the evidence being that transaction costs were perhaps too high. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Administration have a special Section 8 housing voucher programme called VASH (Veterans Administration Supported Housing), or HUD-VASH, which gives out a certain number of Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers to eligible homeless and otherwise vulnerable US armed forces veterans. The HUD-VASH programme has shown success in housing many homeless veterans. Social Security Income/Social Security Disability Income, Access, Outreach, Recovery Programme (SOAR) SOAR is a national project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that is designed to increase access to SSI/SSDI for eligible adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and have a mental illness and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Using a 3-pronged approach of Strategic Planning, Training, and Technical Assistance (TA), the SOAR TA Centre coordinates this effort at the state and community level.

1. 
   Homelessness [Electronic resource]. – Mode of access: http://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Homelessness. – Date of access: 11.03.2015.
   
2. 
   Homelessness [Electronic resource]. – Mode of access: http://simple. wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness. – Date of access: 20.03.2015.
   
3. 
   Sargent, J. F. 7 Things No One Tells You About Being Homeless / J. F. Sargent, W. Bzonnie [Electronic resource]. – Mode of access: http://www.crack ed.com/article_20720_7-things-no-one-tells-you-about-being-homeless.html. – Date of access: 19.03.2015.
   

Статья посвящена одной из глобальных проблем человечества – бездомности, заключающейся в отсутствии возможности обеспечения жильём большого количества жителей планеты и порождаемой различными причинами глобального, регионального и местного значения как субъективного, так и объективного характера.