Introduction
Modern society faces numerous challenges, and an important issue for many people is homelessness. Individuals experiencing homelessness are often neglected by the public, encounter mental health difficulties due to insufficient housing, and are negatively affected by overcrowding and pollution (Lima et al., 2020). The problem of homelessness is closely connected to the five main themes of geography: region, location, place, movement, and human-environmental interaction (Bjelland et al., 2022). My goal is to help decrease the number of homeless people in New York City (NYC) by building and stocking shelters and giving people addicted to drugs the help they need.
General Overview and Rationale
NYC far surpasses any other city in the United States as the country’s most populous metropolis. This city has approximately 80,000 homeless individuals or one in every 125 people. About 4,000 people out of this total population spend each night looking for refuge on the streets or in the subway (Goldfischer, 2020). Twenty percent of NYC’s population lives below the federal poverty line, which may be a contributing factor in the city’s high homelessness rate. However, campaigners say the city and its homeless population have been in a crisis for years due to poor mental health treatment. For families, the inability to afford a place to live is the leading cause of homelessness (Goldfischer, 2020). Homeless people have more mental disorders, drug problems, and other serious health problems than homeless families.
Region Relevance
The proposed project of reducing the rate of homelessness has considerable regional relevance. Region is one of the main themes of geography that concerns an area’s formation and changes (Bjelland et al., 2022). For instance, a regional analysis may consider such aspects as climate, urban development, and demographics, with the latter term referring to the statistical study of the human population (Bjelland et al., 2022). Consequently, NYC is perceived as a global media, cultural, and financial hub (Bashir et al., 2020). NYC has more than 8.5 million residents, with the number increasing by 4.6% per year, and an average life expectancy being 80.9 years (Bashir et al., 2020). The city has a rather humid climate, which makes for frigid winters and hot, muggy summers while contributing to the spread of infectious diseases (Bashir et al., 2020). Therefore, it is unsafe for individuals to sleep on the streets, as people are exposed to the weather and crowds.
Location Relevance
Homelessness can be understood better by exploring the significance of location. As one of the main themes of geography, location can be viewed by the type of city or by considering whether an issue is specific to the site. For example, NYC’s situation is unique since the city remains in the midst of quite a serious homelessness crisis (Giano et al., 2020). NYC is the most populated urban area in the nation, having a total area of around 302.6 square miles (Bashir et al., 2020; Bjelland et al., 2022). This major metropolis is about the middle of the distance between Washington, DC, and Boston. The city’s one million structures include many office towers, high-rises, and retail establishments (Bjelland et al., 2022). Consequently, the location and layout of NYC contribute to the challenge of homelessness.
Place Relevance
Alphabet City, the Bowery, Lower Manhattan, and Greenwich Village are the key neighborhoods in New York City with the highest rates of homelessness. The abuse of drugs and a lack of resources have a disproportionately negative impact on these three regions. Despite the availability of several shelters for the homeless, there are still over 4,000 individuals sleeping outside every night (Bjelland et al., 2022). Many housing-based strategies that have effectively addressed the homelessness epidemic have origins in New York City. This is especially true of permanent supportive housing for people with a disability and other special needs.
Movement Relevance
An important aspect that the proposed project considers is movement relevance. Being one of the main themes of geography, movement refers to patterns and changes in human spatial interaction and can be analyzed based on whether something can move people (Bjelland et al., 2022). For instance, a challenge that the project may face is the public thinking that homelessness does not concern them. However, such an obstacle can be managed by informing people that homelessness in NYS has been at the highest rate since the Great Depression (Giano et al., 2020). Moreover, society may be moved by realizing that persons without homes are victims who unwillingly contribute to the spread of COVID-19 (Lima et al., 2020). Therefore, the project has a movement relevance by affecting not only homeless individuals but the public in general.
Human-Environmental Interaction Relevance
Since New York is also the costliest city in the US, it is no surprise that many of its most famous billionaires make their homes there. Those who have to make do with living on the hard pavement have been hit particularly hard by this new epidemic in recent months (Bjelland et al., 2022). People have lost their houses due to financial hardship brought on by the current COVID-19 endemic, resulting in many job losses (Goldfischer, 2020). The lack of adequate housing, nutrition, and thermal comfort has forced people to innovate new means of survival. People who cannot afford the high cost of living in NYC have no alternative but to learn to survive on the streets, where they must constantly adapt to new dangers while attempting to hide from the harsh realities of their situation.
Budget
For a solution to the problem to maintain a feasible course of action, the plan must consider the aspects of who, what, why, and where. The project will focus on homeless people, especially those addicted to drugs. The what element will concentrate on a shelter for people who do not have homes. A shelter is needed to provide homeless individuals with a safe site to live in until they can afford their own places and have access to basic resources like hygiene. The location for the project is likely to be on the outskirts of the city, where the negative effects of pollution and overcrowding may be lower.
The project will cost about $1.5 million, and the funds will be used to purchase land and materials that will be used for the construction of houses. Street propaganda will cost about $50,500; Vaccination incentives $6,000; Services for the homeless are about $100,000 (Lim et al., 2018); the provision of labor to help the homeless is approximately $1,000,000. It is necessary to raise public awareness and community engagement to challenge the collective acceptance of homelessness on the streets and in shelters. In the future, it will be essential to unite state institutions within the framework of a coordinated campaign to maximize the available state assistance to those in need.
Summary
One of the most significant problems that the nation faces is homelessness. As a result of New York’s high poverty rate and the high cost of housing, much more should be done to alleviate the situation financially; yet people must have safe and affordable places to live. The rising abuse of drugs and alcohol may be slowed if individuals are given the assistance they need to overcome their addictions to these substances. All these things make me want to follow my mission statement and find the help the homeless need.
References
Bashir, M. F., Ma, B., Komal, B., Bashir, M. A., Tan, D., & Bashir, M. (2020). Correlation between climate indicators and COVID-19 pandemic in New York, USA. Science of the Total Environment, 728, 1-4. Web.
Bjelland, M., Kaplan, D., Malinowski, J., & Getis, A. (2022). Introduction to geography (16th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Giano, Z., Williams, A., Hankey, C., Merrill, R., Lisnic, R., & Herring, A. (2020). Forty years of research on predictors of homelessness. Community Mental Health Journal, 56(4), 692-709. Web.
Goldfischer, E. (2020). From encampments to hotspots: The changing policing of homelessness in New York City. Housing Studies, 35(9), 1550-1567. Web.
Lim, S., Singh, T. P., Hall, G., Walters, S., & Gould, L. H. (2018). Impact of a New York City supportive housing program on housing stability and preventable health care among homeless families. Health Services Research, 53(5), 3437-3454. Web.
Lima, N. N. R., de Souza, R. I., Feitosa, P. W. G., de Sousa Moreira, J. L., da Silva, C. G. L., & Neto, M. L. R. (2020). People experiencing homelessness: Their potential exposure to COVID-19. Psychiatry Research, 288, 1-2. Web.