Essay/Term paper: Put the homeless to work

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Term Papers

Put the Homeless to Work

This is a simple thing to say but is it really this easy to put homeless people to work? There are a lot of questions that we need to answer regarding this issue. Will the homeless really volunteer and help clean up the city of San Diego? Will this be a short term plan or is there a chance that we can get them to work permanently? These are just some of the many questions that arises when we talk about the homeless people. I agree with the idea of putting them to work. But I believe that it should be more than just volunteering. In my opinion, it should be a job for the homeless. I also believe that they should earn money while they¹re doing this. Or at least get something in return for the services they are going to render to their city.
Everywhere you go in this city, you¹ll see homeless people around. Their number keeps growing and growing each day. They are absolutely everywhere. Most of them stand by the freeway exits and entrances. They put up signs trying to get anybody¹s attention so that they could get some change or even some left over food. Others hang around 7-11 stores or any grocery stores and supermarkets. Some are out there to clean your car or just your windshield so they could get something in return for their efforts even though they only get your car more dirty.
As I said before, most of the homeless that we have today put up signs that say ³will work for food.² Most of them really want to work in order to get some money for food and stay alive. So, why don¹t we give it to them. We have a hard time keeping San Diego clean so maybe it¹s time to get some assistance from the homeless. Will it be easy to put them to work? I don¹t think it is that easy. This issue is a lot more complicated than that. In my opinion, it will be hard to make anybody work for nothing. I mean, why would they work if they are only volunteering and not getting money or something like that. If I was a homeless person, I wouldn¹t just volunteer myself to help the city. Why should I do that if I don¹t get anything out of it? Why should I waste my time on something that will not benefit myself? It¹s a good idea to make the homeless work for their city but I don¹t believe that we only need them when there is a convention and government


officials are coming over to visit to make them think that this is a clean city. It should be more like a long term plan and really put the homeless to work but we need to work something out in order for them to cooperate.
If we can make an organization that will handle the homeless then maybe we can start this idea of putting them to work. This specific organization should try and recruit the homeless people that are willing to work for food or money. If we offer something like food or money to these people, then they will surely work. They are not going to work for free of course. Nobody would. Even if we make them volunteer to do this and that, we cannot be sure that they will do a good job on them. I think that we should pay them or give them food according to the task that they do and how they perform on that specific task. If we do this, they will do a better job because they know that if they do good on the job they¹re are assigned to, they will be granted more in return.
If everything falls into the right place, we will not only benefit the city but we will see less and less homeless people on the streets doing nothing. It¹s for the city, the homeless, and us. The city will be cleaner if we do something, like putting the homeless to help clean it. The homeless will benefit because they are more sure that they will have food on their mouths. To a homeless, that¹s a big deal. And lastly, a benefit to us. Most people I know hate the homeless on the streets. Some homeless look really old and weak and you have sympathy for them. But some look young and strong and you wonder why they don¹t work if they are still in good physical condition. Sometimes I help the homeless by giving them some change and stuff like that. But I can¹t do that all the time. There are so many of them that you cannot help each one. I see most people¹s reaction to the homeless. Some are nice and as an example, I was following this car and we were on a stop light about to enter the freeway. There was a couple of homeless people on the other side of the street. The people inside the car called them up to give them some left over McDonald¹s food because they just came from that place. They held cars behind them even though the light already turned green. To me, that¹s a good example on how some people give sympathy to the homeless. Some just pretend on not seeing them and just ignore them. It looks really sad unless we do something about it.
We are going to truly help them and the city at the same time by giving them work to clean this city. This work will benefit them because this is far better than just standing and begging on streets and stores. We just have to think about this issue carefully. The problem is there and we


need to act on it. Actually, two problems exist. First, keeping this city clean and second, giving the homeless something to do. I know that it¹s easy to say all the things I have said regarding the homeless. But unless we do something about it, this will not go away. Some people might have the same ideas on how to deal with this situation while some might have different opinions. And maybe, others might not even care. I believe that there is a solution to every problem. We are just going to have to find it because it¹s just around the corner.
Wouldn¹t it be great to see a cleaner city and less homeless people on the streets? I have talked to some of my friends about this. Most of them agree that we can get the homeless helping out while some of them don¹t. They say that why should we help them if they can¹t even help themselves. I have to say that they are right. It¹s true that most of the homeless prefer to not do anything but beg. But I think that they only need a little encouragement and a little chance. This will be like a symbiotic relationship. They will get something out of helping to keep San Diego clean. We¹ll never know, this might be a great idea after all.