Homelessness

I love sports! Specifically the NFL and the NBA. I want to play in the NFL when I'm older. All the players are role models for many people. For example Jimmy Butler, a 3 time NBA all-star, a 3-time NBA all American, All American defensive team and the NBA's most improved player in 2015. He is one of the most consistent players in the NBA right now. But if you don't already know, he has been homeless. Kicked out of his house at the age of 13. He couldn’t get a job. But grew up to be one of the best players to play for the Bulls and the Timberwolves.

According to the Washington Post on a night in 2013 over 600,000 people were sleeping in the streets of America. Their lives have plummeted significantly because they don’t have access to many of life's needs.

We need to help the homeless get jobs instead of keeping them on the streets of our country.

I will talk about Jimmy Butler and his life, one of the best NBA players to play right now. #2 What problems are when homeless. #3 Some solutions to how to help the homeless.

Everyone thinks the homeless are too lazy to do anything with their lives. They want their lives like that. Jimmy Butler, one of the best players in the NBA. Winning most improved player and getting voted to the NBA All-star roster.

Jimmy grew up without a father. He grew up in a place called Tomball Texas. About 39 minutes from Houston. With a population of about 11,100. When he was 13 his mother Londa kicked him out of the house. He said his mom said that she didn’t like the way he looked. He was then homeless. But he didn’t give up at having a successful life. He moved in with his friend Jermaine Thomas. Before his senior year in high school, he meets a freshman named Jordan Leslie. He was born to a white mother and African American father. He lost his father in a car accident. He and Thomas moved in with Leslie, his three siblings, and his mother. He then went on to play basketball at Tyler University in Texas. He knew he had to work more than ever to get a good spot in the big leagues. He didn’t say that he couldn’t…. He said he could. He was a big prospect at Tyler averaging 18.1 points a game. He caught Marquette's Head Coach Buzz Williams eyes. He brought him over to Milwaukee to play for him. He did really good averaging about 19 Points. Getting Drafted first round to the Chicago Bulls. He then won most improved player at Chicago. He was so good he got traded to one of the most consistent teams in the NBA, the Minnesota Timberwolves. He has a salary of about 16.4 million dollars. Jimmy knew he could do something with his life. He never gave up on what he loved. He could have easily just stopped and lived on the street, but he didn't. I'm not saying everyone is going to be that successful but they can improve enough to live in a house and pay for life's needs.

Problem #2

When you are homeless you don't have a place to go. You don't have a place to keep your stuff. And with a job you need to maintain a work schedule, documents, money, taxes and other stuff. If you don’t have a place to keep some important stuff it just ruins the chance of doing good. That makes it so you can't do good at what you're doing that can lead to less money or worse job loss. Just helping the homeless a little would help more than giving them money. That little boost of help will go a long way. I have a friend whose brother picked up two homeless and asked them if they wanted to set up a tent in their backyard. They set it up and lived there. Two years passed and they are doing well. They have jobs and a small house. With that one place to live they kickstarted their life. A girl in Washington is building little homes for the homeless to sleep in. If society could stop arresting the homeless and taking them away from places to stay why don’t they help them start their life over again.

Solutions

1. If we wanted to decrease the percentage of people being homeless and not having jobs we need to be more open to people. You can just look at someone and see what they are like. But you don't see the whole picture.
2. Don't let them be freeloaders. A Chinese Proverb states “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” You never learned anything if you didn't try. Helping them know what they need to do will help to get their lives back together.
3. Give them a chance. According to https://operationriogrande.utah.gov/ SLC was changing the Rio Grande area of downtown SLC. They have three phases. It began August 14 and was focused on law enforcement. Phase two was focused on providing assessment and treatment for addiction and behavioral disorders for those using the indigent services in the Rio Grande district. Number three was focused on providing meaningful work opportunities to the Rio Grande district. Doing that was a very good idea. They gave them opportunities to change. You never succeeded at anything if you never got a chance. It's like playing football but not getting put on the field and expecting to be the MVP. You never think that doing one small thing will help.

Conclusion

The homeless would work for anything to help them. But when you don't get a chance it's hard. They are good people that are willing to do many things. But the world puts them down as dirty lazy people that wanted their lives that way. Not everyone can be perfect. But with help, they can get their lives together. Help them know what they need to do. When you were all in school you learned by being taught not told what is wrong. If you were told what is wrong and not what is right then you will not learn. In the end, we all will make mistakes. We will all fail at something. But we can make up for our wrongs. We aren't all going to succeed but we don't have to give up. Jimmy Butler could have stopped trying to get into the NBA. He could've just lived with his friends and live off them. But he didn’t. We just have to know no one is perfect.