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BALTIMORE, MD — Thousands of people are homeless in Baltimore, Maryland. Thousands are suffering from drug, sexual and physical abuses. Thousands are suffering from social inequality and lack of skills and education. Thousands are suffering from a lack of hope, health issues and police violence. On the other side, banks and other companies are making billions of dollars each year in downtown Baltimore. That is the sad reality of Baltimore.
A very important question is how homeless people can unify in order to fight against the social inequality and give themselves a voice. This article is to give the homeless people a voice to express their ideas on solving the problem. The first question I ask is how can we end homelessness? The majority of people said find out what skills homeless people have, provide job training for those skills and employment for all. The vacant housing in Baltimore could be repaired and used to house anyone who needs a home.
The second question was, ‘What is the worst thing about homelessness?’ Many people said the worst thing is that your health conditions get worse. People on the streets always have the fear that the conditions on the streets will harm them physically and mentally. Having no place to rest makes you lose hope and no hope can lead to drugs, depression and crime.
My third question was, ‘What prevents unity for the homeless?’ The main barrier to unity is no hope for the future. Many homeless see their situation is only getting worse. Many have no vision of how they could enhance their situation. Many people stated that there used to be community structures that gave a lot of people hope, identity and a kind of security. Many homeless said in the past it was easier on the streets because people were looking after each other. Today the homeless feel no one is caring about them. They are disappointed in people generally and this prevents them from uniting.
The solution is more people who actually care about the homeless as people, more people with a vision of a society without homelessness and the desire to have such a society. What is needed is more people who understand that any of us could be homeless. People are needed who want to end homelessness, not just get free bread.
All in all, the circumstances in Baltimore are not getting better. The city of Baltimore has to invest more in education, affordable housing, job training and conversion of all vacant buildings into useful homes, schools and health clinics. The situation is not hopeless. there is still a chance for change, but we have to act now before it gets too late,
