Chris+C’s+Final+AmEx+Speech+2016

Homeless Children

 I’ve always been the quiet kid that had a hard time making friends. The kid who didn’t want anyone to become close to him because it hurt when he moved away. The kid who never felt safe. The kid who didn’t have a home. That’s right ladies and gentlemen, the failure in which I'm addressing is childhood homelessness. I am not the only child who has ever been homeless, and I most certainly am not the last. Every year 2.5 million children become homeless making America the country with the largest homeless population of women and children in the industrialized world; and that is just an outrage. No child should live a life in which all they do is fear for their safety. No child should live a life where their uncertain of where their next meal comes from. No child should live a life seen as an outcast of society. No child should live a life without a safe and secure place to call home.

Now before I continue on I would like to clarify the definition of homelessness and some factors that contribute to it. Homelessness as provided by Merriam Webster is defined as having no home or permanent place of residence. What this means is that if you live on the street, are constantly moving, or hopping around from one friend's couch to another's. You are homeless. Now some of the factors that contribute to this violation of human well being consist of abuse both physical and verbal, loss of a loved one, divorce, family disputes, job loss, depression, untreated mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, gang affiliation, sexual expression/ identity and physical or mental disability. These are just a few of the push factors that are responsibly for a large portion of the homeless population.

Now that we have identified these causes and the definition of homelessness, we need to examine the detrimental effects that it has on our youth’s social, physical, mental, and emotional well being. Due to the lack of a home and other basic resources needed to survive homeless children are at a higher risk of contracting an infectious disease. They are at a greater risk of developing asthma and lead poisoning, and often experience more severe symptoms than their housed counterparts. They also are the victims of poor nutrition which causes both an increase in stunted growth rates and anemia. But the effects don't halt at the physical domain, instead they reach farther and deeper leaving a more permanent scar. Homeless children are under more stress than most other kids their age due to the constant changing factors going on around them. This results in emotionally disturbed kids that are more likely to commit suicide, fall into crime circles and develop a mental illness. They are more socially awkward and less likely to make friends because they are overtaxed with private matters. This also affects them scholastically because they just can't focus on academics with everything else life is throwing at them.

But do not be distressed my fellow Americans, because there is a solution to this problem. The solution may not be easy, but it is possible. The solution I speak of is a nationwide effort that needs to be implemented at the grass roots level. The solution is a single long term act of kindness committed at varying degrees. It could be as simple as joining school on wheels to tutor homeless children, going down to the local food kitchen or shelter to help feed and shelter people, to drastic acts like becoming a foster parent or social worker. Because in the end all it takes is a single act of kindness to change the life of another. So to conclude my speech I going to leave you with the words of mother Teresa “At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by… how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in”

That’s the America I want to grow old in, an America where no child is without a home. Thank You.


 * Sources **

"Covenant House." //Covenant House//. N.p., 01 Aug. 2012. Web. 08 June 2016.

 "Home Aid." //Home Aid//. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

"National Center on Family Homelessness." //American Institutes for Research RSS//. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

"Homelessness." SpringerReference (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 8 June 2016.