Baking A Cake

I thought that Dr. Lori Thomas’ visit was very informative.  I did not realize there were so many families in the homeless population.  I had the typical stereotype in my mind that the term homeless only applied to men.  I really took note of how she stressed the importance of not considering a cause of someone being homeless to be an individual factor.  Society and institutional ideals play a crucial piece in the reason why so many people are homeless.  Dr. Thomas mentioned some factors being a safety net with holes in it, diminished family network, and government policies.  I think these factors are connected to what is seen in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.  That plan discusses how certain rights should be granted to all individuals regardless of status or home environments in this instance.  I feel that Charlotte is taking tremendous steps towards ending homelessness as a large metropolitan area.  Moore Place with its housing first priority is an innovative idea that appears to be working.  Charlotte is such a widely known city making its progress towards ending homelessness will eventually be seen elsewhere.  I think that is what is going to have to happen in order to stop homelessness on a nationally level.  Cities need to not be frightened to try innovative ideas because the same old shelters and programs are obviously not working.  If some larger cities take the first step and are successful then other places will start taking the same approach.  A ripple effect will then occur and the United States could potentially have a house for everyone in the future.