What we can do to reduce and combat homelessness in this country?
What Can We Do to Reduce Homelessness?
Homelessness has been a common issue among people with mental illness. However, the community services available for mental illness are still far away from achieving the goal of supporting every individual with mental illness. In order to enhance a homeless person to obtain the motivation for a stable life, it is significant to form a community that has a great understanding of mental illness and homelessness.
In order to build a great understanding of mental illness and mental health care, it is significant for people in the community to understand the social problem. Especially, colleges and universities play an important role in promoting equality and supporting the homeless population under the Housing First Program. Even though homelessness is not a topic that is frequently discussed at educational institutions, it is still important for college students to know about homelessness and think about the ways to reduce and end the problem in their own community. This is so because young people have the power and responsibility to transform current social perspectives on homelessness in order to form a collaborative and unified community.
Despite the need for mental health services, the lack of availability and accessibility are negatively affecting homelessness among people with mental illness. In addition to the absence of services, there is a gender disparity in volunteering in mental health care. A large number of people who are engaged in community services in mental health care is female whereas a vast majority of the homeless population is male [9]. If more males are engaged in volunteer services in mental health care, the effectiveness of the mental health care services will be maximized since male volunteers may be able to build a better relationship with the male homeless population than females [10].
If there is a better understanding of homelessness in mental health issues within colleges or universities, public awareness may be more developed and it fosters the community to eventually change practices and services dealing with homeless issues.
