In the U.S. there is roughly over 500,000 homeless people as of January 2018. Roughly 70% of that 500,000 are individual homeless people and the other 30% are families with children. These numbers have been steadily increasing since 2007 when more accurate data has been accumulated according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. This nonprofit organization has introduced the facts of this situation to the eyes of the American people and has created awareness. They provide the public with facts, charts and graphs of the severity of the homelessness problem in the U.S. They also provide aid in the form of donations, volunteers, education, and information to those who want to help or support.
One innovative method to not only aid the problem of homelessness but also help them succeed in the next step of their lives by giving them employment. A Detroit based nonprofit organization developed the Empowerment Plan. This plan created a coat that also doubles as a sleeping bag and also gives them a job to create more of these coats. The coats costs $100 from a sponsor to make but the money goes also to the program. In the program which lasts about 2 years, people are given a 40 hour work week where they are taught how to make the coats. They are also given education similar to that of GED course. They also give them aid for better living, such as nutrition, domestic relations and financial advice for the next chapter of their lives.
In San Fransisco, starting in 2014 a nonprofit organization named Lava Mae. They take tour buses, gut them out and construct showers and bathrooms for those who do not have running water for themselves. They began with the philosophy of radical hospitality, giving their guests the most ideal experience and shower they can publicly get. Having access to a shower, they believe should be a basic human right which they seek to provide to everyone. They have expanded to Los Angeles and on their website they have instructions and information to how you can provide a bus in your local community.
In Seattle, people want to use technology to connect homeless people with their smartphones using an app. Johnathan Kumar created an app, called the GiveSafe App, that gives you information on any homeless person that has a a quarter size beacon on them. The person collects the beacon from any shelter and registers it to themselves with a picture and a small bio clip of themselves. In just a few clicks the person with the app can donate money to the homeless person and that person can use the money at certain stores or location. The money can be used for money, clothes, a haircut, or transportation. What Kumar wants to do is give people who give money to the less fortunate know that the money is going to go somewhere useful and eliminate the stigma of people asking or begging for money. This way homeless people can use the money to better their lives and hopefully get them to bounce back on their feet. The app is available on iOS and Android platforms.
Many social entrepreneurs and people in the U.S. are creating many valuable methods and strategies to help cut down the amount of homelessness in America.
Homelessness Efforts 