Dear future President,

Imagine yourself wandering the streets, so hungry you can barely survive.You plead and beg people to help you. But all they do is ignore your existence and walk by, leaving you cold and alone. Why should anyone have to live this way? That, dear president, is where you can step in. You have a responsibility as president to take care of your citizens. Thus, you must continue to fund programs to aid the homeless.

No one wants to be homeless and/or jobless. Unfortunately, sometimes things happen to people that are beyond their control; such as losing a job, or having a severe mental disorder. And though some homeless people can get hired and sustain a job, homeless children aren’t old enough, and mentally unstable people often can’t keep one.

First of all, according to the Nation Alliance To End Homelessness, about 50,000 homeless people or more are homeless veterans. These people, who protected our country through thick and thin, don’t deserve to live on the streets, barely surviving. Some veterans come out of war, completely mentally shattered by a traumatic event while in war. Post traumatic stress may find it hard to sustain a job. They find it hard to keep their job because sometimes they find it hard to connect with society after being in war for so long. We need to protect our homeless veterans, just like they once protected us.

As well as veterans, people with severe mental disorders are homeless, too. The National Coalition for the Homeless says that about 25% of homeless people have extreme mental disorders. People with these severe mental disorders are another example of people who sometimes can’t sustain jobs, and need someone to take care of them. These people need to be given resources like medical care to take care of themselves and buy medication to treat themselves. They might also need someone else to help them carry out essential aspects of daily life. The government could also use the funding for homeless shelters that would clothe, feed, give them a place to sleep, and give them medical attention. This wouldn’t just be for people with severe mental disorders, either. It would be for the whole homeless population.

And finally, the most tragic out of all of these; homeless children. Children become homeless for a variety of reasons. Some children are homeless because of family circumstances. Other children are homeless because they left a bad situation in the family home. The family situation might be abuse. Some children feel like they are forced to leave home because their parents don’t agree with their “lifestyle”. Homeless children aren’t old enough to get jobs, and they don’t know how to take care of themselves as much as responsible adults would. About 40% of these children are gay, bi, lesbian, and/or transsexual. When children are homeless, they have a higher chance of physical abuse, mental health disabilities, and even death than most adults.

In conclusion, homeless people come in varieties of ages, backgrounds, and emotional/ mental states. Dear president, you’re in a unique position to highlight the importance of this cause and to take action.. These homeless people try so hard to survive. When people walk by them, they don’t even bother listening or talking to them, and no one, no matter how down on their luck should feel less than human.

Sincerely, Francesca