We see a crowd living on the sides of overpasses and alley ways and call them homeless as if that were their names. We fail to recognize them as people but that is what they are.
Homelessness is the condition and societal category of people who lack housing and food, usually because they cannot afford a regular, safe, and adequate shelter. The term "homelessness" may also include people whose primary nighttime residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides a 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. A small number of people choose to be homeless nomads, such as some Romani people (Gypsies) and members of some subcultures. An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless. (Wikipedia, 2008) Homeless people are people who have financial problems or people with social disabilities who have usually been abandoned by society.
English: Homeless man, Tokyo. Français : Un sans ...
English: A homeless on the corner of Cologne Cathe...
Street Sleeper 2 by David Shankbone(The National Law Center, 2000) states that, "During the past year, over two million men, women, and children, or nearly one percent of the US population were homeless." The homeless population is growing. Facts show that more people are suffering from unexpected Homelessness 3 problems such as financial or maintain a stable life structure.
A little history shows that homelessness has been around for awhile and in different lifestyles.A small number of homeless people chooses to be homeless, living as nomads.
"Nomadism has been a way of life in many cultures for thousands of years" either due to the "...seasonal availability of plants and animals" or an "ability to trade." A 2001 study on homelessness issues in Europe noted that "Urban transience [e.g., homelessness] is different from nomadism/rootlessness or traveling ..." in that nomads and Gypsy travellers in...