Helpless and hopeless are two words that could easily be used to describe any homeless Americans living on the streets of Nevada. With help from local, state, and federal entities, there is hope in finding a solution to this humanitarian crisis.
Experts agree that the leading causes of homelessness facing Nevada residents are twofold: a lack of job opportunities and housing that is too expensive for low-income families to maintain. To fulfill its duty to the American people, the government needs to create and support emergency shelters, transitional facilities, and educational programs to eradicate the crisis and help displaced citizens get back on their feet.
With an aggressive, proactive approach, the government can prevent further homelessness, but it needs to address those already impacted by it.
Because Nevada ranks dead last in the United States regarding access to affordable accommodations for Extremely Low Income (ELI) families, it’s no surprise that local and state municipalities are faced with combating the homelessness of their citizens. When it comes to housing, affordability occurs when the cost of living in a home, apartment, or other (adequate) property is less than 30% of the total household income.
It is no surprise that the state faces this issue, considering that unemployment rates are upwards of 11.5% in areas where Nevada sees the highest number of homeless citizens.
With a lack of proper backing on all levels, emergency shelters, hospitals, disaster relief, and other crisis intervention programs that are run by local authorities are often so strained that they are forced to turn a large number of the homeless population seeking help away.
Private organizations serve as supplemental agencies to support these efforts. Still, they often have policies that prevent a certain percentage of displaced Americans (those with a criminal background or those who battle drug or alcohol addiction) from getting the help they need.
In his 2019 article, “A Role for Law Enforcement in Reducing Homelessness in Nevada,” author Brian Warren, of the Guinn Center suggests a well-rounded, proactive approach to solving the humanitarian crisis. His extensive research on the topic led Warren to believe that there is a possible solution to reducing homelessness and that it would take a collaborative effort to get there. Rather than villainizing struggling Americans for being homeless, these citizens must be met with compassion instead.
Local, state, and federal governments can work together to address the current crisis impacting nearly half a million Americans each year. A well-rounded approach, including managing the issues that cause homelessness within the nation, will do wonders in permanently eradicating the problem.
In the meantime, we need to fund programs that enable currently displaced Americans the opportunity to become more self-sufficient individual contributors to the economy, the positive impacts of which could stretch far and beyond the morality of doing the right thing.
