Vulnerable People and Places Blog

     All over the world the number of people without a home is higher every year. No matter how much money governments spend on social services, homelessness is rapidly rising. This multifaceted problem will require a multifaceted approach.       According to online magazine www.euractive.cz the number of homeless people in the European Union rose by 70% in the past 10 years. If nothing is done the European parliament estimates that the situation will become even worse in the next 5 years. For that reason the European commission is suggesting a very ambitious goal to eliminate all homelessness from the European Union by 2030. Even though each EU member state is currently solving this problem on their own, they agreed that sharing ideas and learning from each other is in this matter essential. The EU member states are now submitting their suggestions, and strategies. Some of the ideas the EU members so far agreed on are for instance developing a net of easily accessible transitional liv

In our society, many people are under the impression that being homeless is an option. They think that people who are homeless are just lazy or can't hold a job, or some other excuse as to why they just didn't make the right choices, but that is not the case. Nobody wants to be homeless. In the United States alone, there are about 550,000 homeless people on the streets per night.  One of the primary reasons for homelessness is lack of affordable housing. Once people have to resort to living on the streets, it is extremely common for them to start getting various criminal charges for things like sleeping in public, public urination, public drinking, etc. It is very difficult to break this cycle once it starts, and many cities don't do anything to make it easier for them to get out of it. You might be wondering "why don't they stay in shelters?". Well, shelters often come with a set of circumstances that are required for staying there, and they often will hav

Shelby Ryan became homeless after the death of her husband. She has chosen not to go to a shelter due to her disinterest in the crowded conditions ( source ) With the homeless problem worsening in the past few years, policy solutions have struggled to keep up. When so many individuals are becoming homeless and struggling to climb back out, the question of how to provide refuge for these individuals becomes increasingly difficult to answer. Shelters are opened and expanded to accommodate this growth, but it is often not enough to cover for everyone, and the growth of homelessness is outpacing the rate at which resource organizations can get these people housed. Just last year, the Joint Office of Homeless Services was able to get over 4,000 people out of homelessness ( source ), and yet there are still more on the streets. It is interesting to note that homelessness was not nearly as much of an issue in the US only a few decades ago. Housing was far more affordable, and even those who w

  My time at Burrito Brigade I was in a rut. I was in Eugene not feeling myself. I had just graduated from a  2 year design program at Lane Community College, I was settling into my new position as an apparel designer for a nation wide hat manufacturer, things seemed like they should be going well. But I was in a rut. It was like I felt that I didn’t have much purpose. The days just sort of blended together and I couldn’t get over the feeling that life was passing me by.  I started listening to a lot of motivational things on YouTube. Each of the self help guru types online helped a little in their own ways, but I noticed that they all seemed to have one consistent message, be grateful and give back. I had done some volunteer work before but never really because I wanted to. Either because I was dragged along or something that I needed to do for school but I’d never gone out of my way to give back to my community.  I looked up places that I could volunteer around town and landed on Bur