HOMELESSNESS IN AMERICA AND BEYOND

Throughout the years, the United States (U.S.) has been affectionately called “The Land of Opportunity”. It is a country that many feel offers opportunities for personal growth and financial success if you are ambitious and work hard. Condoleezza Rice, who was the first female African-American secretary of state and the first woman to serve as National Security Advisor echoed many of these sentiments and has publicly shared that “what has always made our country special is that it doesn’t matter where you come from; it matters where you’re going”.

Many individuals and families have migrated to the United States in hopes of achieving “The American Dream”, the belief that upward mobility is possible for anyone, regardless of where they were born, their race, their religion, or social status. However some question how prosperity is possible for some while others struggle to survive, and in some cases only being a paycheck away from poverty and homelessness. What happened to their “American Dream”?

Food, clothing, and shelter are some of the basic necessities for human survival, yet millions of people go without both in the the U.S. and around the world. According to the National Homelessness Law Center (https://nlchp.org/) there are approximately 3.5 million people who are experiencing homelessness in America. Additionally, there are an estimated 150 million people globally who are homeless as well as an estimated 1.6 billion people lacking adequate or appropriate housing (https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/cities-grow-so-do-numbers-homeless). It is also estimated that that approximately 40% of american are only one paycheck away from poverty (https://prosperitynow.org/sites/default/files/resources/2019_Scorecard_Key_Findings.pdf). Homelessness is also exacerbated by economic downturns related to challenges such as war, natural disasters, or pandemics.

No one aspires to be homeless, but unfortunately there are a lot of stigmas associated with the homeless populations such as: laziness, uneducated, and lacking morals. To the contrary, homelessness is generally the result of drastic changes in ones life which include the loss of a job, the death of a loved one, divorce, domestic violence, alcoholism, drug addiction, untreated mental illness or family disputes. The true story of Chris Gardner is an example of a person that was likely judged for being homeless, despite having tremendous potential.

Chris Gardner had a troubled childhood which included not knowing who his father was, being abused by his stepfather, and being placed in foster care after his mom was sentenced to prison. However, years later, Gardner credited his mom’s advice for not letting the events in his childhood destroy him. His mom would tell Gardner, “You can only depend on yourself. The cavalry ain’t coming.” These words would eventually become Gardner’s mantra and help pave the way to his international success. (Chris Gardner, The pursuit of Happyness (New York: HarperCollins e-Books, 2014), 1-12.

In the early 1980s, Gardner and his young toddler were homeless for about a year in San Francisco, California. Gardner had accepted full custody of his young son when his ex no longer wanted the responsibility. During the year that Gardner was homeless he stayed at places like flophouses, parks, airports, church shelters, and at one point, a toilet stall at a transit station. Gardner and his son also ate at soup kitchens and what little money they had was used for daycare services for his son while Gardner worked. Gardner’s tumultuous journey through life also consisted of being arrested for $1200 worth of unpaid parking tickets due to his lack of income.

Despite the many twists and turns in Gardner’s life, he eventually found success as a stock broker, a business owner (establishing his own brokerage firm, “Gardner Rich & Co in 1987”), and eventually becoming a motivational speaker. In 2006, a biographical drama film was released about his life called, “Pursuit of Happyness”, featuring actor Will Smith as Chris Gardner and Smith’s son (Jaden Smith) as Chris Gardner’s son.

My personal and professional experience with homelessness has taught me to quickly pondered a homeless person’s situation, rather than judge them for it. This is something that we should all strive to do since nearly half of all Americans are a “paycheck” or “tragedy” away from being homeless.