Homelessness - video

Describe the video in 10 sentences: https://www.ted.com/talks/becky_blanton_the_year_i_was_homeless

Homelessness

Describe the video in 15 sentences.

Social worker

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Homelessness – Study material

Homelessness – Study material

Homelessness is the condition and social category of people without a regular house or dwelling because they cannot afford, or are otherwise unable to maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing. Street people are the segment of the homeless who spend time on the streets in urban areas.

The term homelessness may also include people whose primary residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides food a home to support the homeless so that they can live with temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

The major reasons and causes for homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include:

• Unavailability of employment opportunities.
• Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment.
• Lack of affordable healthcare.
• War or armed conflict.
• Mental disorder, where mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access.
• Disability, especially where disability services are nonexistent or poor performing.
• Substance abuse.
• Lack of affordable housing.
• Domestic violence.
• Relationship breakdown, particularly in relation to young people and their parents.
• Prison release and re-entry into society.
• Natural disaster, including but not limited to earthquakes and hurricanes.

Types of homelessness:

• Short-Term Houselessness: When a traumatic event occurs such as a house fire or natural disaster, people with positive relational resources, solid inner resources & sufficient physical resources are able to recover in a short period of time, usually within 30 days.
• Long-Term Houselessness: Much like Short-Term Houselessness, the loss of a house is the result of an unforeseen event, except in this situation the people who are affected have modest physical resources which lengthens the amount of time it takes to recover, sometimes up to 120 days. 
• Permanently Supported Homelessness: The Permanently-Supported Homeless population lacks both relational & inner resources due to mental or physical disability & must rely upon outside resources to provide the goods & services needed to sustain life. 
• Near Homelessness: Those in the Near Homeless category have overextended their personal support systems, which keeps them on the brink of homelessness. Literally “one paycheck away from homelessness,” these folks cannot withstand any type of setback. The loss of a job, roommate, or vehicle can easily push them over the edge. 
• Self-Induced Homelessness: Self-induced homeless persons reject their relational resources by refusing to cooperate or submit to any form of authority. As a result, they are unable to maintain housing, employment or any type of productive relationship. 
• Environmentally Dysfunctional Homelessness: This segment of the homeless population has experienced a series of traumatic events, often a result of the toxic environment in which they were exposed. Broken, dysfunctional or non-existent relational resources have severely weakened their inner resources making it almost impossible for them to sustain the physical resources needed for stability. War Veterans can fall into this type of homelessness when their inner resources are unable to withstand the traumatic events of war.

Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable lives. Supportive housing works well for those who face the most complex challenges—individuals and families confronted with homelessness and who also have very low incomes and/or serious, persistent issues that may include substance abuse, addiction or alcoholism, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or other serious challenges to a successful life.

Problems faced by people who are homeless:

• Discrimination against the homeless
• Need for personal shelter, warmth and safety.
• Personal security, quiet, and privacy.
• Safekeeping of bedding, clothing and possessions, which may have to be carried at all times.
• Hygiene and sanitary facilities.
• Cleaning and drying of clothes.
• Obtaining, preparing and storing food in quantities.
• Keeping contacts, without a permanent location or mailing address.
• Hostility and legal powers against urban vagrancy.
• Reduced access to health care and dental services.
• Limited access to education.
• Increased risk of suffering from violence and abuse.
• Loss of usual relationships with the mainstream.
• Not being seen as suitable for employment.
• Reduced access to banking services.
• Reduced access to communication technology. 

There are many places where a homeless person might seek refuge: 

• Outdoors: On the ground or in a sleeping bag, tent, or improvised shelter, such as a large cardboard box, dumpster, in a park or vacant lot.
• Shantytowns: Ad hoc campsites of improvised shelters and shack.
• Derelict structures: abandoned or condemned buildings.
• Squatting in an unoccupied house where a homeless person may live without payment and without the owner's knowledge or permission.
• Vehicles: cars or trucks are used as a temporary or sometimes long-term living refuge, for example by those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in vans, sport utility vehicles, covered pick-up trucks, station wagons, sedans, or hatchbacks .
• Public places: Parks, bus or train stations, public libraries, airports, public transportation vehicles, hospital lobbies or waiting areas, college campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as coffee shops.
• Homeless shelters.
• Inexpensive boarding houses: Also called flophouses, they offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.
• Residential hotels, where a bed as opposed to an entire room can be rented cheaply in a dorm-like environment.
• Inexpensive motels also offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.

Adjusted to: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness
http://www.innercitymission.net/AboutHomelessness/TypesofHomelessness/tabid/120/Default.aspx

What do You know about homelessness? 1

Answer the following questions.

1. Where do the majority of homeless people in the Czech Republic live?
2. Where do they sleep?
3. Where can homeless find a shelter and help?
4. What are their main problems?
5. What are conditions for selling Nový Prostor?
6. What are other magazines sold by the homeless?
7. What organizations help the homeless?
8. Why do people become homeless?
9. What are conditions for staying in the boatel? What services does it offer?
10. What are major reasons and causes for homelessness?
11. What are types of homelessness?
12. What activities are prepared for the homeless by organizations and foundations?
13. How does Charity help the homeless?
14. Who are squatters? What is their lifestyle like?
15. What kind of people become squatters?
16. What problems do they have with police?
17. What are typical places to squat?

What do You know about homelessness? 2

Explain the following words.

1. accommodation
2. boatel
3. break-up of marriage
4. debt
5. donation
6. drugs
7. foundation
8. gender boundaries
9. hostility
10. marginalised
11. motivation for life
12. poverty
13. provide a job
14. refuge
15. relationship
16. rent
17. research
18. shelter
19. support
20. to owe
21. unemployment
22. vendor
23. violence
24. squat
25. arrest
26. belongings
27. iron pot
28. to live communally
29. riot

An unusual shelter for the homeless - Text 1

An unusual shelter for the homeless

A A few nights ago, as I was walking by Narodní Třída in the centre of the city, which is a popular hang-out spot for the homeless, a loud conversation caught my attention. The couple had made themselves comfortable on the floor close to the entrance of the metro and was fighting over a blanket, or some kind of a rug. The fight began to escalate, swear words filled the air. Then, the woman got up and screamed: "You know what, with people like you among us, it's no wonder that City Hall wants to ship us all away overnight."

B I stopped and was tempted to ask the woman what she was referring to. But I was already late for a meeting and - I'm embarrassed to admit - didn't really have the courage to approach the two. After all, this was the place where a man was recently found on the floor with blood oozing out of his stab wounds. But that sentence stuck in my mind all night and it was not until I woke up the next morning that I realised what it was all about.

C There are an estimated five to six thousand homeless people in the capital, of whom only several hundred have access to free or cheap accommodation. Even in winter, when charities and humanitarian organisations try to offer a warm place for the night, many have nowhere to go. They take refuge in train stations or heated night trams in order to battle the cold winter months. In late January, a tent city was set up in Prague by the army for another 100-200 people. But the 3-week camp cost the city over 30,000 dollars and could only be a temporary solution.

D Facing a barrage of criticism from humanitarian organisations every winter, the City of Prague defends itself with the argument that it is hard to acquire buildings for homeless shelters as the city's districts don't want them there. But this week, City Hall announced that it has a new plan. Its Council, on Tuesday, decided to approach the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry with the request for a grant to acquire a ship, which could then be reconstructed and turned into a shelter on the Vltava River that runs through the city. The estimated 21 million crown project would offer 250 beds and a canteen with some 175 seats.

E Hopefully not all of the city's homeless are as distrusting of the authorities as the woman I overheard the other night. If the rumour should go around that the city's actual motive is to ship its homeless population elsewhere, City Hall would have to take an unusual step - ask for another grant to hold a campaign to persuade the homeless that it will be safe to use the services of its 21 million crown "boatel".

barrage – palba

hang-out – kvartýr, skrýš

sentence – trest

stab wound – bodná rána

swear word – nadávka

to ship away – odvézt lodí

to tempt – lákat

1) Read the article and match each of the headings to a paragraph.

1 Shelters in Prague

2 Fight over a blanket

3 A new plan of the City of Prague

4 I wanted to talk to the homeless but was afraid

5 Boatel

2) Read the article and answer the questions.

       1 What is the article about?

2 Why did the homeless fight?

3 What was the misunderstanding of the woman over a new plan of the City of Prague?

4 What is the new plan of the City of Prague?

5 How much does the boatel cost?

3) Explain the following words.

1 accommodation

2 charity

3 refuge

4 shelter

5 boatel

4) Answer the following questions.

What organizations help the homeless? Why do people become homeless? What are conditions for staying in the boatel? What services does it offer?

Adjusted to:

http://www.radio.cz/en/section/letter/an-unusual-shelter-for-the-homeless