Running Head: IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 1

Assessing the Footprint of Homeless Community Members in Maryland Urban Regions

Kelly DuBois, Harrison Ernst, Megan Jones, Aynsley Melancon, Daquan Proctor

South River High School

Abstract
IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 2

Community members without social aid or support in urban areas are compromised severely by

their environment and in turn, compromise the environment as a whole. The phrase, you are

only as fast as your slowest person perfectly describes the gap that exists between the homeless

population the rest of society. Providing security to those that are homeless would not only

reduce the amount of criminal activity and drug use in an area, it also benefits the health and

safety of an individual suffering exposure to the elements, that is heightened during the winter

months of need. The most often occurrence is the onset of homelessness decreases the motivation

to better the situation and leads to drug use and criminal activity. The solution is a marriage of

contribution and aid on parts of the receiver and the donator. While basic resources like

shampoo, soap, and socks provide a vital contribution to an immediate need. The service needed

to collect and make these resources build a support network and sense of capability that aids to a

positive mental set. Stability and security with the use of these items will aid the effort of the

people in need to rise out of the situation of alienation from society and allow them to be more

likely to seek further support and reintegrate themselves into society.

Keywords: Public works, Affordable Health Care, Psychological Illness and Addiction, Chronic Homelessness,

Transitional Homelessness, Emergent Homelessness, Disabilities, U.S.D Housing and Urban Development (HUD),

Fundamental Attribution Error

The New Deal

IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 3

The first and second New Deals, passed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, sought to aid the

country first economically and then socially and enacted programs of aid to communities so great

that some survive to this lifetime. The name the New Deal in this paper serves to parallel the

complex economic and social struggle that a homeless person has to face to survive in an

unstable situation.

Problem Statement

The Continuum of Care Program under the U.S Department for Housing and Urban

Development reallocates funding to communities like the Baltimore area managed by the

Homeless Services Program, that gives aid to the approximate 2,800 men, women and children

that are homeless each night. Chronic physical and mental illness, unaffordable housing, lack of

healthcare and emergency services, and low income all contribute to the suffering of these

individuals and increase the likelihood by 10-53%, that they will turn to criminal activity such as

prostitution or the use of hard drugs to alleviate their situation. Providing security and aid to

those suffering with homelessness will reduce the amount of criminal activity, the frequency of

drug use and lift the overall economic and social prosperity of the community.

Who it Affects

The Scope

This section operationalizes homelessness on a global, national, and regional scale as

well as identifies the experimental region for the projects outreach. Supplemental information

will be provided in the context of global and national organizations involved in gathering of

statistical information and their contributions to provide relief.

Global.
IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 4

Homelessness is a global issue contracted through many communicable mediums in

financial, mental, physical, and social areas. Since the definition of homelessness varies from

country to country, providing comparable baseline of data across the globe is difficult and in the

realm of the subjective. The last global attempt at data was in 2005 by The United Nations, and it

revealed that 100 million were homeless and 1.6 billion people were part of the unsheltered

homeless (Homeless World Cup). Across the world, thousands are displaced to homelessness

each year due to causes ranging from ethnic conflict to floods to rapidly expanding populations

creating housing deficits.

National.

The political policies enacted for the creation of the welfare state in the late 1900s and

shifted the political attitudes from the individual contribution to the state to the states benefit to

the individual. With the bolstering of the progressivist party, Theodore Roosevelt passed the new

deal collection of programs to provide relief to the unemployed and poor as well as to prevent

the repetition of the previous Great Depression. With the creation of unprecedented social aid

projects like the Works Progress Administration and the Civil Works Administration, Roosevelt

built public facilities like roads, airports, hospitals, and schools while simultaneously providing

employment to the previously affected by the Great Depression().

Currently, relief for the homeless is regulated and funded by the US Department for

Housing and Urban Development who established the Continuum of Care and the Special Needs

Assistance Program (SNAPS) that support regional assistance centers that care for the homeless

(HUD).

Urban Regions in Maryland.

IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 5

After fully evaluating the local shelters and organizations in the Anne Arundel County

area, emergent homeless need was not identified. According to The Annapolis Lighthouse

Shelter, they do not provide care to the rare cases of emergent unsheltered homelessness and The

Arundel House of Hope provides minimal care during the season of need or the winter time ().

Due to these findings, Urban areas like Baltimore and Washington DC are going to be the focus

of placement for our solution and the area discussed the most in this report.

Baltimore.

This area sees the most in emergent and transitional homelessness (). Many are homeless

on a given night and even more so are involved in insecure, temporary sheltering situations when

removed from their unaffordable housing. Baltimore has many outreach programs concentrated

in downtown baltimore such as Code Blue shelter and the Bea Gaddy Family Services, which

both work to provide winter relief housing, free bus services, and drug and alcohol care services

for the 280 approximate residents per night that they receive (Reddy, 2007).

Causes of Homelessness

Political and Social Causes

Social factors such as addictions and poor economic conditions increase the probability

of an individual falling into homelessness. A history of poverty or addiction is cyclic and puts

those who are predisposed at a disadvantage. In addition, Lack of affordable housing in the

United States contributes to those who are at risk of homelessness. A study done by the

department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) showed that in 2012 there 10.3 (about

25%) or renters had extremely low income as classified by HUD. Likewise, in the same year,

only 5.8 million rental units were available to the 10 million people who are classified as having

extremely low incomes. Once these people had paid their rent, 75% of them ended up with only
IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 6

half of their income to pay for necessities such as food, transportation, medical, and child care.

The 2010 foreclosure crisis in the United States also should be considered when talking about

contributing factors. This event contributed to a 61% rise in homelessness reported by local

homeless groups. With 40% of those facing eviction during the crisis, and renters becoming an

increasingly large sector of the population (NLCHP).

Demographically,

people in minority groups

make up large portions of

the homeless population.

In 2010, black families

made up 38.8% of the

sheltered population while

making up only 12.1% of

the entire family population in the United States (NLCHP). Veterans on a night in January of

2014 accounted for 11.3% of all homeless adults and from October 2011 to September 2012

accounted for 1 in 156 veterans in the United States (NLCHP). Additionally, in 2014 a study

done of 25 United States cities, 15% of all homeless adults identified themselves as domestic

violence survivors (NLCHP) with 60% of those needs which went unmet by domestic violence

services being housing.

Physiological and Mental Causes

Chronic mental illness, and illnesses or disabilities acquired from old age, or from

working are major catalysts for homelessness for people, especially those on or near the poverty

line in the first place. People citing both positive and negative symptoms of illnesses
IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 7

exponentially increase the likelihood of chronic homelessness. For example, a negative symptom

of schizophrenia like a flat affect would affect the ability for the patient to form interpersonal

relationships and cope with their detrimental behavior. On the opposing side, positive symptoms

of a chronic retrovirus like AIDS would increase the likelihood of gaining an infection or illness

and increase the frequency of need for medical attention rendering them unable to work and in

likely medical debt.

Effects of Homelessness

Not only is homelessness caused by a variety of negative situational and medical impacts

on this population, the extent of the sheltered or unsheltered unstable living situation leaves

lasting and impactful consequences on the support networks and on the person themselves.

The Consequences of Homelessness on Health

Severe environmental factors give people who are homeless a poor standard of living and

also have destructive effects on both physical and mental health. Short term homelessness would

include those who have been homeless for less than 6-12 months consistently. Homelessness,

especially during the winter months can hurt a persons ability to fight or avoid illnesses. For

example, if someone has a cut, it may become infected without the proper care, or their cold

could become pneumonia. In addition, when suffering from homelessness, people with chronic

illnesses such as Diabetes, will not have anywhere to keep their medical supplies.

Homelessness increases the risk of physical assault and sexual assault as well as skin and

extremity disorders from exposure to the elements for the unsheltered and sheltered homeless

alike. Homelessness can also accelerate the effects of joint ailments and venereal diseases

(National Academy Press, 1988). An example of the accelerated impact of homelessness on

health presented in Homeless, Health, and Human Needs is:

IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 8

Doris Foy's varicose veins occasionally result in swollen ankles. When

homeless, she sleeps upright, and her legs swell so severely that tissue breakdown

develops into open lacerations. She covers these with cloth and stockingsenough to

absorb the drainage but also to cause her to be repugnant to others because of the smell

and unsightly brown stains. She is eventually brought to a clinic by an outreach worker.

When the cloth and the stockings are removed from the legs, there are maggots in the

wounds. She is taken to the emergency room of a hospital, where her wounds are

cleaned.

Normally, an example would be exaggerated to show the extreme extent of the effect of

the theory in practice, but this is not exaggerated nor an uncommon occurrence. This example

shows the impact of the environment and physical drain on easily treatable conditions when

access to health care is obstructed.

How Homelessness Affects Health Care

Even the most simplistic of treatments are complex with the care of the homeless. Bed

rest, insulin injections, and diet control are all unreachable for many on the spectrum of

homelessness. They are also hindered by the stigma of drug and alcohol abuse prevalent within

the homelessness community which may lead to an attribution of unrelated symptoms to that

cause.

There is also the matter of bed use and exacerbated symptoms ultimately utilizing

resources that could have been avoided with early access to healthcare. An advanced condition of

a disease or injury would often require more care than what is covered in basic access insurance

due to what that disorder would normally entail.

The Impact on the Social Environment

IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS 9

Chronic homelessness and visible urban poverty perpetuates the stereotypes surrounding

the view of homelessness draining societal resources and being un-contributing members of

society. The fact of homelessness prevalent in an urban environment is that it would trigger

fundamental attribution error in societal views to reflect cynicism and ostentatious superiority

over humanitarian sympathy.

Current Solutions

The National Alliance to End Homelessness The Alliance represents rapid re-housing,

community based prevention, and providing resources to those that need it. They have

specialized services for families, youths, and veterans. They also work to help eliminate the

stigma of chronic homelessness that holds the public image of what homelessness is typically

viewed as by the public. Reportedly, they account for less than 15% of the actual homeless

population (NAEH, 2016).

Another intersection of social and humanitarian controversy that this organization

addresses is homelessness for the displaced LGBTQ youth. This specific demographic proves to

contribute to the homeless population with a variety of issues. Their identification often

contributes to pietal conflict and accompanies physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and a

spectrum of mental illnesses. The National Alliance to End Homelessness aims to provide a

larger access and validation to the homeless youth that would never receive access to support

networks and services due to a typical lack of bed capacity.

Bag to the Future

To treat the emergent unsheltered homeless need and to create a unified support network

towards aiding the homeless, sustainable handsewn care bags with a humanitarian network at

South River High School.

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Evaluation of Bag types

This section is an outline of information on types of bags and their purpose to understand

how to incorporate multifaceted design strengths into the design. It also covers how each

example influenced the final design chosen.

Backpack. A Backpack is characterized by double straps,

a moderate storage ability, and a plethora of different

sized pockets. We evaluated these bags for the range of

materials they are typically made of and their multi

purposeful use. However we decided it was not a flawless

application to our goal, due to its moderate cost and

difficult manufacturing skill needed.

Duffle Bag. A Duffle Bag is marked by one large supportive strap, a large storage capability

laying on the horizontal axis, and some side pocket options. This was a more simplistic approach

than the backpack, but tends to provide little support to the holder with the singular strap and still

provides design and manufacturing challenges for basic assemblers.

Messenger Bag. A messenger bag is known for their easy access to the

contents inside and one long supportive strap. This was a design we

heavily considered, save for the large flap being a manufacturing

difficulty or inefficient use of material.

Tote Bag. These bags are known for their simplicity and easy access to

materials in a generally moderate sized storage space. This is the

design most similar to our end design, with a healthy combination of

 IMPACT OF HOMELESS COMMUNITY MEMBERS
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support, storage, and simplicity in manufacturing. Its most common materials were also closest

to what we could sustain through donations.

Cotton Sustainability

The entire basis of sustainability for the bags is under donated materials of shirt and pants

fabric. Cotton shirts would compose the main chamber for the bag, with denim for the strap that

crosses diagonally over the front, and has grommet detailing for the drawstring at the top.

Contained within the bag would be bar form shampoo, bar soap, a toothbrush and

toothpaste, tissues, deodorant, Chapstick, socks, dry food, and a Baltimore resource card. The

materials within the bag would accomplish the regaining of stability for the emergent homeless

and provide them with a connection to the distribution site, similar to outpatient treatment

centers in hospitals.

Cotton additionally is highly fibrous and versatile for weaving different strains of

materials into the fabric to alter the properties of the end product easily. This however makes it

highly absorbent and likely to retain moisture for extended periods of time. In order to counteract

this, we engaged in a combination of tests using silicon caulking, wax, soybean oil, and alum on

squares of cotton to test residue, color distortion, ease of replicating, and, most importantly, the

efficiency of waterproofing.

School Community Based Prevention

The mobilization demonstrated school wide for the Jean Drive and Harvest for the

Hungary within South River High School shows the impact of humanitarian causes as well as

school side competition on collecting resources for those who need it within the community. Part

of our solution is to make a lasting impact for prosperity of humanitarian aid for homelessness

directly through the legislative involvement and leadership of the honors societies, specifically
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the National Arts Honors Society. This organization has existing work with manufacturing

chemotherapy capes for children undergoing treatment in this area. Our agenda for them would

be to establish a chair to head the committee to lead fundraising for the sustainable materials and

the contents of the bag. Monetary donations would be used to buy grommets and to fulfill any

needs with the contents of the bag.

In the same way that the organization had sectional volunteers for cutting, pinning, and

sewing the bags, they would have the same processes for creating this bags. We chose a multi-

faceted but simplistic template pattern with an easy weaving technique for the straps. This allows

the bag to be sturdy but easily manufactured. One of the reasons we approached the Arts Honors

Society was the beautification that could also be involved as the project evolves over generations

of students.

Conclusion. This report was an exploration into the socio-economic and medical causes and

effects of homelessness on the global, national, and specifically regional urban population with

an emphasis on Baltimore, Maryland. It proposed and recounted steps towards the

implementation of a perceived solution aimed at emergent homelessness and stability in

prosperity of humanitarian donation and facilitation in the High school. The Multi-faceted design

and limited resources placed in the bag are all under the semblance of establishing a support

network in addition to supporting basic, essential needs.

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