Introduction
Many people encounter various problems that affect their overall life experiences and outcomes. Social issues affect different members of the society if the government fails to put proper or adequate support mechanisms. Homelessness is a common predicament disorienting the life experiences of many citizens in the United States and across the globe. Affected individuals would lack proper, sustainable, or permanent housing, thereby being unable to pursue their goals. The completed cause has guided me to learn more about the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in supporting people without shelter, encouraging volunteerism, and guiding stakeholders to address key challenges associated with homelessness.
Cause Description
The undertaken exercise focused on the needs of homeless people in the wider Bergenfield area. The number of homeless people, as observed from the completed exercise, was around 500. The activity was essential to learn more about the challenges most of these citizens had to go through and some of the existing programs intended to address their needs. The exercise was essential for shedding more light on the problem of homelessness and its place in the American context (Maguire and Kim 50). The cause entailed various strategies, including the use of interviews to learn more about the complexity of this issue, the initiatives charitable organizations undertake, and the best efforts to transform the situation.
Importance of the Cause
While the cause revolved around the introduction of efforts intended to learn more about homelessness, it was essential to consider additional mechanisms to help most of the affected individuals. By focusing on the selected region, it could be possible for more people to volunteer and guide most of the victims to identify the available housing resources. The emerging insights and undertakings could become the best guidelines for implementing the cause at the national level (Maguire and Kim 50). This approach would help address most of the challenges the affected citizens encounter in their lives and eventually take them closer to their goals.
The specific cause is, therefore, important for American society today due to several reasons. First, the latest report by PolicyAdvice has revealed that the U.S. has around 552,800 homeless people (Stasha). Additionally, more than half a million citizens were currently accommodated in housing resources intended for persons who lack shelter (Stasha). In another report, it occurred that around 33.3 percent of the homeless people in the U.S. were family members while the remaining 66.7 were single citizens (Gibbs 12). Over the past decade, the number of homeless individuals has been rising steadily by around 1 percent (Stasha). The occurrence of this social problem reveals that most of the measures already in place seem inadequate or incapable of meeting the demands of more people. Without proper mechanisms, chances are high that the issue could get out of hand.
Key Definitions
The first term relevant to the selected cause is that of homeless and it refers to the state of lacking permanent shelter or housing. The second one is that of refugees and it denotes individuals who have left their countries or neighborhoods due to chaos, poverty, or natural calamities. Emergency shelter is the third term and it could be defined as a facility intended to provide shelter temporarily to affected people (Gibbs 7). The fourth key term, chronic homelessness, denotes the plight of individuals who are entrenched within the wider shelter system due to the presence of disability or old age. The final term is that of continuum of care and it describes programs intended to introduce community-based strategies to deal with the problem of homelessness.
Description of Charity and Non-Profit Organizations
Despite being one of the best boroughs to live in, Bergenfield continues to experience various challenges, including homelessness and drug abuse. The presence of social problems worsens the situations for more people, thereby making it impossible for them to lead high-quality lives or pursue their goals. The homelessness predicament has led to the establishment of various community-based resources and nonprofit organizations aimed at addressing the problem. The first one is the Interreligious Fellowship for the Homeless located in Bergen County. This organization provides temporary shelter to persons who are homeless and in need of food (Homeless Shelter Directory). In terms of funding, the agency relies on donations from various religious groups and institutions in the region. It launches programs intended to support and make it possible for more beneficiaries to re-pattern their lives.
The second organization that addresses the changing needs of persons without shelter in Bergenfield is Real House, Inc. The website of this organization is āwww.realhouseinc.comā. The agency offers emergency shelter to persons who are facing the problems of homelessness and refugees (Real House). On top of this aim, Real House, Inc. has been involved in providing life skills to women who are jobless and lack permanent shelter. Its location in Bergenfield makes it accessible and capable of meeting the needs of more people. The organization receives funds from different well-wishers and donors to continue meeting the needs of the targeted beneficiaries.
Bergen HEARTS is the third non-profit organization that is involved in the identification of homeless persons to shelter them. The link to this organization is āwww.co.bergen.nj.us/ā. The agency targets individuals who are aged 18 years and below (Bergen HEARTS). Those who are street homeless tend to be prioritized and supported to achieve their goals. The organization goes further to identify young individuals who are facing possible homelessness in their respective families. The agency gets funds from different supporters, donors, and government programs. The acquired financial resources are allocated in such a way that they address the challenges affecting most of the identified beneficiaries.
Challenges and Obstacles
The success of the three agencies could be attributed to the involvement of different professionals and volunteers who collaborate to meet the changing needs of the targeted citizens. The use of proper organizational models has made it easier for them to appreciate emerging changes and consider the best ways to transform lives. However, several challenges have continued to exist, thereby making it hard for the institutions or community resources to achieve their maximum potential. The first problem these three organizations encounter is the lack of adequate funds (Vasylyeva et al. 3). This predicament exists because they lack proper financial structures and sources. When the available funds are reduced, the agencies find it hard to offer the much-needed support to most of the identified beneficiaries.
The second problem is the absence of an adequate workforce to meet the demands of persons who might be facing chronic homelessness in Bergenfield. This situation is associated with the absence of adequate resources to hire or attract more volunteers and professionals who can target homeless people and transform their situations. In the recent past, the agencies have found it hard to attract more volunteers who could be involved in the overall strategies and goals of the organizations (Stasha). Consequently, the gap has made it hard for the organizations to realize most of the anticipated objectives.
The third obstacle or challenge contributing to the recorded poor performance in the organizations is that of reduced coordination with other community resources and agencies. For instance, most of the institutions have failed to develop superior strategies for maximizing cooperation, sharing resources, and targeting individuals who are at a higher risk of becoming homeless. This gap could describe why most of the available NGOs are usually unable to collaborate with the established government agencies to address the problem of homelessness (Vasylyeva et al. 3). This challenge could guide most of the involved leaders to consider additional strategies to maximize cooperation and support the realization of the anticipated goals.
Ongoing Pandemic
Following the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, the promoted cause in Bergenfield has been unable to achieve most of the anticipated goals. For instance, the health issue compelled most nonprofit organizations to close their doors to new homeless people or incur additional expenses to meet the outlined requirements and protocols. With the government and the established health agencies focusing on the disease, the existing level of support for homeless people reduced significantly. The nature of this pandemic forced organizational leaders to focus on the best ways to reduce infections, including reducing the number of supported people to achieve the proposed social distancing. With more people remaining afraid of COVID-19, the number of volunteers in such organizations has reduced significantly (Maguire and Kim 51). These trends could explain why more people have been identified as homeless.
Importance of the Cause and Reflection
This specific cause is important to me since it amounts to a social responsibility aimed at addressing a major problem affecting more Americans. Any effort intended to tackle homelessness has the potential to empower more people to re-pattern their lives and be ready to pursue their personal goals. The cause is capable of equipping me with additional competencies for addressing additional social problems affecting more people in the future. The exercise has made it easier for me to learn more about the existing community resources, how they operate, the source of funding, and how they pursue their aims (Gibbs 6). The activity has equipped me with additional competencies that will guide me in my future social work practice.
From this cause, I managed to learn more about the causes of homelessness and the best strategies to help most of the victims. I gained adequate competencies that will guide me to relate positively with others, solve problems, and meet the needs of disadvantaged community members. I observed that a coordinated effort could work positively to help deal with the problem of homelessness in the country (Gibbs 11). I realized that volunteers could make a difference in the fight against the studied social issue. Similarly, most of the involved individuals and organizations acquired additional ideas for tackling homelessness, such as the power of collaboration. The identification of additional sources of funds could help such organizations achieve their goals.
Conclusion
Homelessness is a problematic social issue in the selected Bergenfield area. The existing agencies acquire funds from different donors to examine the predicament and help those who continue to be affected negatively. The absence of adequate resources and the increasing number of refugees and persons facing chronic homelessness tend to affect the success of these agencies. A renewed approach characterized by coordination among all agencies could help deliver positive results promptly. The cause is critical since it seeks to introduce additional ideas for dealing with the overall problem of homelessness in the country.
Works Cited
Bergen HEARTS. Bergen County Homeless Family Services HEARTS ā Housing, Emergency Shelter, Advocacy Resources, and Tools for Self-Sufficiency, 2022, Web.
Gibbs, Linda. How Ten Global Cities Take On Homelessness: Innovations that Work. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2021.
Homeless Shelter Directory. Bergenfield, NJ Homeless Shelters, 2022, Web.
Maguire, Jake, and Anna Kim. āSolving Homelessness: Communities Across the Globe are Using the Built for Zero Methodology to Reduce and End Homelessness.ā Public Management, vol. 108, no. 8, 2021, pp. 49-52.
Real House Inc., 2022, Web.
Stasha, Smiljanic. āThe State of Homelessness in the US ā 2022.ā PolicyAdvice, Web.
Vasylyeva, Tetyana I., et al. āChallenges Posed by COVIDā19 to People who Inject Drugs and Lessons from Other Outbreaks.ā Journal of the International AIDS Society, vol. 23, no. 7, 2020, pp. 1-6.