Dear Future President: 

My Name is Jaxen, and I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico I am worried about what the government is doing to help our homeless in the United States. I understand that homeless are getting welfare checks and food stamps but what is being done to keep them off the streets. This is an issue that is spreading across the United States more and more every year and is raising questions by the citizens living here. The amount of homeless people, especially homeless veterans are rising. I am concerned about this because I have see many homeless veterans out on the streets and have wondered, why are they on the streets when they fought for us to have safe homes. Why do we have homeless people in general? I understand that they may have made mistakes but if we can have the idea to bring in refugees and give them shelter and food then how come we can't do that for our homeless.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness is trying to help but they need government help. There is definitely not enough affordable housing; this is something that we have a problem with that can be changed. If we make cheap housing that doesn’t cost very much then we shouldn’t have to charge very much on it either. This gives the homeless a cheap place to stay for warmth and shelter. Federal Homeless assistance programs must be funded at levels sufficient to address need and this isn’t happening. This also needs to be changed to help our homeless. Many companies are trying to help but they have little government help. If the government would just take a little bit of time and help our homeless then the percentage of homeless in America would go down dramatically. This is something I hope our future president will change seeing as how you are supposed to care and protect the United States. According to St. Martins Hospitality Center, "Twenty percent (1 out of every 5) of New Mexico’s residents live below the 2008 poverty level of $10,400 in annual income." Meaning they are not making enough money to provide enough care for themselves leaden to homelessness. Also according to St. Martins Hospitality Center, "In 2006, nationwide, on any given night, almost 200,000 veterans were homeless. It is estimated that between 23 and 40 percent of homeless adults are veterans." The issue is definitely raising more and more questions in the community.

Thank you for your service to our country; I can't wait to see what you will do for the United States.

With all Respect,

Jaxen