Elderly Homelessness Essay

Although the antique ar homeless for all anatomys of reasons, there atomic number 18 some(prenominal) unwashed faces of homelessness for ein truthone. The causes of time-honored homelessness ar nighly financial. The most common cause of homelessness is income. The elderly retire and do non make the same income as they did piece of music working. Because their income is low, they receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to live find oneself through of. However, SSI is usually very low and not make up above the poverty line.The maximum SSI monthly gain ground in Washington D. C. s $850 for an individual, which is well at a lower place the poverty line (NLIHC, 2007). These monthly benefits open to be used to pay bills, buy food, and pay for living accommodations. SSI benefits do not last very long because they argon so small and the damage of living accommodations usually diminishes the benefit before it can go all further. The cost of housing is the second mo st common cause of homelessness among the elderly. It is hard to find affordable housing in many argonas, especially in occupy cities. The cost of a one bedroom flatcar in Washington D. C. was $1,134 (NLIHC, 2007).Many of the elderly have a hard time paying for housing because SSI will only pay housing if the cost is thirty percent of their SSI benefit. Many of the elderly who atomic number 18 having issues paying for the cost of housing can engage for partitioning 8 vouchers, but there is an ironical twist to this option. In order to receive section 8 vouchers to avoid homelessness, the person applying has to already be homeless. Once the person is homeless, it will be very difficult to apply for section 8 because they weart have a permanent grapple or a way to keep in contact with any agencies.Some of the other causes of elderly homelessness include physical and mental health. The problem with the health of the elderly is that most of them have some sort of illness that p revents them from beingness able to take address of themselves and their home. The elderly are more likely to get a line a disruption in their ability to give care or provide for themselves and their homes because they are not physically or mentally able to. Their health causes them to gag law working and ultimately leads to receiving the low SSI benefits, like a vicious circle.One of the causes of homelessness is the lack of social aid from family and friends. Many elderly flock become homes because they do not have anyone to second them, whether financially or emotionally. They do not ask for help because their family and friends may also be having financial issues and do not have space in their home for the elderly person to live with them. Because of this many elderly people feel like a burden and are too ashamed to ask their friends and family for help and they are left to fend for themselves, which leads to homelessness.The last common cause of elderly homelessness is the knowledge deficit that exists abtaboo in stock(predicate) service. Many elderly people admit that they do not know which programs and operate are acquirable to them and which they are eligible for. Sometimes there are services and support that they are eligible for that they are unconscious(predicate) of and they feel like there is energy they can do. This usually leads to becoming homeless because they ran out of time to apply for services and get help to prevent homelessness.Many of the elderly people who are homeless did not think they were eligible for services and many other elderly people were unaware of services that might be available to them. This is a huge problem because the elderly do not have the information they need to prevent being homeless and they are not receiving the support and services that they are eligible for. These elderly people are falling into situations that they dont know how to get out of.