Living in South Carolina

Abstract

People can go from a small town to a big city. How many of you have ever been in this situation before? I am sure you know someone who has. How do culture and the economy play their roles in these comparisons? Do government agencies take different actions towards different populated areas? Statistics from city-data shows how this living style could affect different people. Although the City of Anderson has a rich cultural history that appeals to many tourists, the city needs to do more to improve its growing homeless problems that are ruining its image.

Though homelessness stems from current issues such as domestic violence, mental illness, and poverty, many states criminalize these victims due to their unfortunate circumstances. Coming from a small town in New York called Rose, population 2,264. Moving to a "city" where the population tripled really has changed the way I live. In Rose, there are no big buildings, taxis, city busses, nor sirens blaring all day and night long. The kids in Rose can walk around town with no worries that someone across the street might start shooting at someone. They do not have people begging them for change so they could "get something to eat". Rose is like "one big family". Whereas Anderson, SC is the total opposite. Anderson, SC a population ten times the size of Rose, NY there are always sirens blaring and taxis all around. Every street corner of every major intersection has a homeless or jobless person standing on it. They are holding signs, "homeless, hungry, help", "will work for food", "need food for my kids". Where is the help for these people? Why do they need to stand on the corner and beg? Should they know how to get help, or maybe they tried but were they turned down. These people are blaming the economy for their homelessness.

What has the economy done to the people who are now jobless, homeless and without food? The great depression for example, (Nick Taylor, 2008, NY Times, 2012)

By 1932, the unemployment rate had soared past 20 percent. Thousands of banks and businesses had failed. Millions were homeless. Men (and women) returned home from fruitless job hunts to find their dwellings padlocked and their possessions and families turned into the street. Many drifted from town to town looking for non-existent jobs. Many more lived at the edges of cities in makeshift shantytowns their residents derisively called Hoovervilles. People foraged in dumps and garbage cans for food.

Before there were big companies to work for, people lived off the land to survive. People would hunt, fish, or garden crops to get the food they ate. Although this is not an option for most people now days, it would help with the homeless and hungry. This "living off the land" option is not available today; the states will charge a person of certain age to fish, hunt or trap for food. Most people do not own homes so they cannot grow their own crops. Leaving, Government help or begging for help as the only option left. Given the cost of living, (city-data, Jan. 2011) it looks like Anderson, South Carolina will continue to have this homeless problem. Which means those people standing on the corner will be still standing there if the government agencies do not help them now. I have seen people walk into the Department of Social Services, ask about education to better their lives, be turned down. People ask for food assistance, be turned down. I have been the person. Government agencies, like this one, the person needs to fill out a pamphlet of papers to see if they qualify. They need a permanent residence and a job. Why do these people living in the woods or on the streets not qualify?

Government agencies such as the Department of Social Services and the Department of Workforce and Employment, allow people to receive benefits up to 63-93 weeks. In this time, the people are supposed be looking for jobs or education or both. The longer a person is unemployed the harder it is for that person to find a job. Employers want people that have no gap in employment. Social services want people who have income and homes to qualify, but not too much. If these agencies will not help these people that truly need help, who will? In recent years, media reports of a growing economy and low unemployment mask a number of important reasons why homelessness persists, and, in some areas of the country, is worsening. These include stagnant or falling incomes, and less secure jobs that offer fewer benefits. Now, as the United States experiences the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the homeless population has increased significantly. The worsening economy and rising unemployment numbers emphasize a number of reasons why homelessness continues to exist and grow in exponential numbers in the United States. Because of past legislation, a variety of government-funded programs exists to assist the homeless. Studies show that programs designed to assist the homeless should be implemented to cover a variety of concerns. An evaluation of the Job Training for the Homeless Demonstration Program (JTHDP), authorized by the Stewart B. McKinney Act in 1988, found that successful employment programs provide access to a wide variety of services including housing to help the homeless overcome employment barriers. In addition, the evaluation concluded that in order for employment programs to be most successful, they must directly target the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless.

People turn to the streets. These homeless people are ones who had a job, a career, a home some time in their lives. When they turn to the streets, they presumed different then everyone else. These people "homeless" need to be helped along with the ones who have lower income.

I saw my first homeless person when IO moved to Anderson, SC. He was a black male maybe 45-50 years old, limping, pushing a shopping cart down the median of a four-lane road. After a few weeks of living in Anderson, I found out who he "was". A lawyer well respected citizen. My friend

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