Homelessness occurs every day in the United States. In Virginia, there are 5,957 homeless individuals. The economy suffers from the use of more public resources because of homeless people. They can create more expenses for a community because they use the cities showers, food shelters, etc. Since COVID-19 started in the U.S., "The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD)2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress shows that 580,466 people were counted as homeless during the 2020 Point-in-Time count, representing a 2.2% increase over 2019." (Naeh, 2021) When they camp out near/in stores, they can deter potential customers, thus causing the business to lose money. "In 2012, Shaun Donovan, the secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) stated that, "...between shelters and emergency rooms and jails, it costs about $40,000 a year for a homeless person to be on the streets." (Caring Works, 2021) It costs the community more money for a homeless person does than to build or fund it.
On the other end, being homeless can have its positive side too. It teaches you how to be independent, free time to develop new skills, not to pay for expenses, get stuck in materialism, become humbled, etc. Homeless individuals strive to live and survive every day. The good things they do for the economy are to reuse and recycle old and unwanted objects. Society views the homeless as lazy, rejects, irresponsible, waste of space, beggers, etc. In reality, they are trying to better themselves and get back into the working economy. I personally, try to see the good in homeless people and give them food or clothes so they can be nourished and stay warm while they are trying to get back on their feet and save up for whatever their goal may be.
Overall, homelessness causes society to go into a depression. They take up space, time, resources, and money to provide for them. Homeless shelters are not free, neither are the products they provide. Being homeless can affect the person too. It can set them majorly back in life and make it hard to bounce back. Looking at the economic aspect of it, it's a lose-lose situation. It teaches the individuals new trades and ways of life but costs the economy drastically.
Sources
Naeh. “New Report Shows Rise in Homelessness in Advance of Covid-19 Crisis.” National Alliance to End Homelessness, 18 Mar. 2021, endhomelessness.org/new-report-shows-rise-in-homelessness-in-advance-of-covid-19-crisis/.
Works, Caring. “Community Impact: The Community Impact on Homelessness.” CaringWorks, Inc., 2021, www.caringworksinc.org/our-impact/community-impact/.
Brooke,
I love the points that you made about how the homeless community effects the community around them in a much larger way than most people realize. It becomes so easy for people to simple turn their heads and roll up their windows when they see someone in need because they think it's that person's fault they are there and that it doesn't effect them if they help out. Yet as you pointed out, the effects are huge. Not only that, but a majority of the time, it is not the homeless person's fault that they have come to that situation, may things can influence a persons financial situation and you never know it that could be you one day.