Dear Future President,

I don’t know if you’re aware of a couple of problems that out country faces, but one of the few problems that we have sticks out to me especially.

Homelessness is a really big problem when you think about it. I didn’t really think about it a lot until a few years ago. I went on vacation and the number of homeless people was outstandingly high, every two blocks there were at least five homeless people. That’s when I first started noticing it more and more, even in the smaller towns. Most people don’t even notice it really. It’s just another thing to some people, but the truth is it’s not just another thing it is a problem.

The main causes for homelessness are the lack of affordable housing, poverty, and unemployment. Some people know that it is a problem but say that the number of homeless people has gone down and wasn’t that big to begin with. It’s high and it’s high enough to be a problem. There are 633,782 people that are homeless in America, and over 1/3 of that number are children. Most people who are homeless live in a shelter of some kind but some don’t. There are 243,627 people who are unsheltered. Nationally 38% of the homeless population are homeless families. Just in Washington D.C. there are 6,865 homeless people. There are 1,231 homeless families in Washington D.C. Since 2010 homelessness has gone up 50% in Washington D.C.

To me there is nothing sadder than to see people who are living on the streets and not being able to do anything about it because they can’t afford to rent a house or even get a job. Also seeing homeless families with children and knowing you can’t really do anything about it.to me it’s just sad to see it. People sometimes don’t want to hire homeless people, I don’t understand why a person is a person weather or not they are homeless. It is wrong to not hire someone because they are homeless. I know people who have applied to jobs and have gotten turned down because of that. I know I can’t be the only one who thinks that this is wrong to do.

I know I’m not the only one who notices this as a problem and cares about it. So president, what are you going to do to fix this problem, or at least bring the numbers down?

Sincerely,

Josie M.