One of the most acute social problems of modern society is the homelessness of individual citizens. At the moment, about 4 million homeless people live in our country. The figure is huge. Moreover, the information provided is only approximate, since there are no exact statistics for this category of citizens.
Homeless people are an unaccounted layer of the population. At the same time, they are subjected to severe discrimination at all levels. Most of the legal acts that regulate the life of any citizen do not even contain a mention of homeless people. Exceptions are individual rules of law that reflect their administrative and criminal liability.
Definition Historical reference
By definition, a homeless person is an abbreviation taken from police records of the Soviet period. Homeless, b / o m., Homeless - so in official documents people were recorded without a fixed place of residence. Today this word is used not only in colloquial speech, but also used in journalism.
The phenomenon of "walking" people has existed in Russia for a long time. This was a separate category of citizens. They did not belong to either the rural or urban population, but lived in free trade. Often engaged in theft and robbery.
Even during the reign of the first Romanovs, they tried to break this freemen into separate categories, seeing in it a threat to a normal life and a hotbed of social ailments. Thus, the actual “walkers”, “poor people” (people kept in church shelters) and “those who feed on the Name of Christ” (beggars) were singled out.
In our country, the increase in the number of homeless people is associated with the period of the collapse of the USSR, when free sale of real estate appeared. All this was accompanied by absolute ignorance of the laws of a market economy, unemployment, an unstable political situation and a general loss of life guidelines.
Who are homeless people?
A homeless person is a person with no fixed abode. Do not confuse them with beggars - this is a completely different category of citizens: they often have their own housing, but they live on alms received in the subway or near the store from compassionate people. For a homeless person, charity is a secondary source of income.
Homeless people earn money by collecting scrap metal in rubbish bins and dumps, sometimes they steal it, ask for money from passers-by, and very rarely earn extra money for garbage collection or unloading cars. All part-time jobs are one-time.
But not everyone who rummages in the trash can is homeless. Some of these collectors have their own housing, usually littered with "good things" pulled out of the waste container. A homeless person is a person who does not bring his booty to an apartment, but to the place where he found an overnight stay - a basement, an attic, a pit under a heating plant, etc.
Also, you do not need to compare the homeless and the tramp. The latter often just moves from place to place, while everywhere he finds a job that provides him with a minimum level of comfort - a roof over his head and food.
A real homeless person is a person without housing, without documents, without social connections. The bottom of society. People without a past that they don’t like and don’t want to remember.
The Philosophy of Bombing
Russia is largely adopting the experience of other developed countries, and in some places we have opened shelters for homeless people. There are very few of them, and they cannot help all the homeless.
But the problem is not only that. A homeless person is not only a way of life, but also a special worldview. A person is offended by the whole world, and often reacts with aggression to any attempt at contact. Remember how homeless people beg for alms. Not beggars who try to arouse pity, namely homeless people. They do not ask, but practically demand money. And in case of refusal do not hesitate to pour selective abuse at anyone. Many do not understand that at this moment they are driven by an almost childish resentment: “like that, she goes in good clothes, that he pity 100 rubles.”
At the same time, a homeless person does not want to work, does not want to get involved in restoring documents, and often refuses any help except food and overnight.
The situation is greatly aggravated by alcohol. Homeless people use alcohol-containing drinks of any quality daily and because of this they lose their last chance to return to normal life.
About social assistance to the homeless
To be honest, what feelings does a homeless person make you? First of all, fastidiousness - it is unpleasant for any person to even look at a dirty and very bad-smelling person who rummages through garbage. And only among the most compassionate does compassion arise, mixed with the same disgust, and sometimes even with disgust.
But any conscious citizen understands that this phenomenon must be fought. These people, it does not matter whether they are guilty or not of their troubles, should have at least some kind of housing and guaranteed daily food.
And here an interesting phenomenon is observed: in our country there are many animal shelters, but very few for people. The state allocates money for cats and dogs, celebrities donate. In each city, a whole system of overexposures for abandoned animals is functioning, and in social networks they raise funds for medical treatment, etc.
The state takes care of a homeless person, but there are very few such help centers. For example, in Moscow there are only 3, and there are about 11 thousand homeless people in the capital. Private charitable organizations and the church (hot food points) also provide assistance. But this is not enough.
Homeless Shelter
Everyone agrees that the homeless need help. Not all of them are to blame for being on the street. Someone was helped by unscrupulous realtors, someone was sent by relatives to the street, and some themselves escaped due to domestic violence. Homeless people are not only men of 40-60 years old, although there are most of them. There are homeless women, elderly people, teenagers, and even very young children. And some lack the smallest support to begin the path to a normal life.
What is a homeless shelter? This is a place where people are fed, allowed to wash and provide an overnight stay in the warmth. Shelters, first of all, are aimed at maintaining physiological needs, that is, to ensure that the homeless person does not die from cold, hunger and illness. There he will be offered to contact his relatives or to assist in the restoration of documents. Many shelters work like night shelters - they give the homeless to sleep, after which they again go out into the street.
Adaptation centers for people without a fixed place of residence are aimed at returning the homeless to normal life. Here, a person will be offered not only to satisfy urgent needs, but also to solve all the main problems: restore documents, employ, provide medical assistance, and assist in obtaining psychological support.
How to help?
Many are ready to help the homeless, but do not know how to do it. Here are a few points.
- Provide homeless communication - give the opportunity to call relatives or friends.
- Give an opportunity to earn extra money. Not all homeless people are willing to work, but some can clear the snow or unload the car.
- Turns to a church or monastery. They often provide shelter and food for people with a difficult fate.
- Work as a volunteer. Everyone can work in shelters for free.
- Financial support. It is not necessary to give money in hand, you can donate some amount to a charity and the homeless will receive it in the form of hot food and a clean blanket.
- Open your own shelter.
The last point is the most difficult. For him, it is necessary to have not only a free housing stock, but also to ensure that all legal norms, the requirements of the fire and sanitary inspection, etc. are met. In addition, it is necessary to obtain the consent of the neighbors.