Homeless Families in America.

How do we take care of our most valuable and vulnerable assets.

For Kayla, 12, and her brothers, Kyle and Mitch ages 7 and 3, respectively, it happened after their mother had been in a car accident. Katherine, a single mother of three, living from pay check to pay check and sometimes having to take on two jobs to support the family, she was doing her best to raise her children as kind, understanding, and compassionate. Knowing her situation was volatile, she always took the opportunity to use it as a teachable moment, to show her kids that they could get through anything as long as they work hard and stick together. Then came the car accident. By no fault of her own, the course of her and the children’s life would be changed instantly and without warning due to an unaware driver running a red light and demolishing the car she was already struggling to pay for. A hospital stay and a damaged car beyond repair led to a set of circumstances beyond her control. Loss of a job and a pile of bills with no way to pay them, she barely had enough money to feed her kids let alone the money for bus fair or a babysitter so that she could go out and search for new employment. This downward spiral would soon lead to eviction and homelessness for this family of four. Without the time, money, or resources necessary to combat this overwhelming situation, she was forced to pack what clothes and essentials could fit into four small back packs and find some way to move forward.

As with so many families and children who become the victims of these unforeseen situations that are beyond their control, homelessness is just one unfortunate circumstance away. Serious illness, accident, or a death in the family can put many of these individuals at great risk of not being able to make ends meet when tragedy strikes. Due to the lack of affordable housing, decreasing government supports, combined with an unsteady job market, many of the challenges facing today’s families are forcing them to live a fine line between poverty and homelessness. Those most profoundly affected are the children in these families, the most vulnerable and in need of our help. It is our obligation to help take care of these children, again, the most vulnerable, most promising young lives the future has to offer. Many of these children are being raised by a single mother who is often times the victim of domestic violence, physical, and mental abuse. Left on their own to raise a family, many of these women must take on two or three jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table. Without an adequate support system, many are pushed to the brink by the stress and uncertainties caused by living pay check to pay check, meal to meal. All of this is unintentionally passed on to the children who witness and live through these struggles. Many reports show that the children who experience these type of unstable living conditions grow up with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, chronic health issues as well as mental health issues.

Although the federal government has taken great effort to bring down the number of chronically homeless individuals and veterans, children and families have not received the same benefits, and their numbers are rising. According to The National Alliance to End Homelessness, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in 2015. Of that number, 206,286 were people in families, and 358,422 were individuals. About 15% of that population, 83,170, are what’s considered chronically homeless individuals. These chronically homeless individuals are what most of us see as the national face of homelessness, the unwashed, unkept, and foul smelling human beings commonly referred to as bums, or bag-ladies. In realty these homeless are commonly the victims of mental and physical abuse, sufferers of mental illness, and most times at the mercy of an alcohol and/or drug addiction. As a society, we have grown accustomed to the homelessness that surrounds us. Usually with little more than a glance, we walk by them, ignoring their pleas for help or spare change, pretending not to hear them. We pretend not to see them, looking down at our cell phones as if there something important pending or looking away as if something has caught our eye, any reason to not acknowledge or make eye contact with them.

However, amongst the four categories of homeless recognized by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, (Families, Veterans, Chronic, and Youth), it is Youth homelessness, a mostly silent and mostly invisible majority that posts the most surprising and staggering statistics. Of the numbers of homeless children ages 1-17, 51 percent are under the age of six, and the disheartening list goes on. 1 in 45 children, or rather 1.6 million kids will experience homelessness, and nearly 40 percent of the homeless population are under the age of 18. According to Covenant House, a privately funded agency providing food, shelter, and crisis care to homeless and runaway youth, 41% of homeless kids witnessed acts of violence in their homes, 36% indicated that someone in their family used drugs regularly, 19% reported being beaten with an object, 19% reported that they have endured sexual abuse, and 15% reported that someone close to them had been murdered. Of all the research conducted by various homeless advocacy groups, the Covenant House statistics concluded that without decisive action and the allocation of sufficient resources, the nation will fail to reach the stated federal goal of ending family homelessness by 2020, and child homelessness may result in a permanent Third World in America.

So much more can and must be done to help and aid these families and the children who are at great risk of the consequences that accompany an uncertain future. On April 29th over 180 women in five cities across the country slept on the streets with a goal of raising $345,000 for the homeless youth at Covenant House. The third annual Sleep Out: Mothers Edition included moms, grandmothers, aunts, foster moms — women who care about kids and want to make a difference. As stated by Covenant House President Kevin Ryan, “The amazing women participating in this Covenant House Sleep Out are sending a loud and clear message to homeless kids – that we stand with them in their struggles, and celebrate their courage, their resiliency, and their dreams for a better life, what a beautiful message to send as Mother’s Day approaches.”

There is no singular image to portray homelessness in this country. Within the four recognized categories of homelessness, Chronic, Families, Youth, and Veterans, individuals of all ages, geographic areas, occupations, and ethnicities are affected. To think of these homeless individuals as lazy, addicts, or have somehow brought this on themselves or that they choose to be homeless is an absurd and careless notion. This is not a choice and to assume so is ignorant and wrong.

As covenant house has stated, the issues surrounding childhood homelessness reach far beyond just providing hot meals, a warm shower, and a clean bed, there is a wide range of deep-seated psychological, physical, and economic reasons for youth homelessness. The list of unthinkable situations these children are put in are endless. It’s sickening, sad, and heartbreaking to know that these young lives, full of imagination, adventure, and hope are forced to experience the fear, shock, and dismay caused by homelessness and by no will or fault of their own. These homeless families with young children are at a risk different from other homeless and therefore must be treated differently for these needs and risks.

As for Katherine and her three children, Kayla, Kyle and Mitch, their situation has changed. But one wonders at what unnecessary cost. Through guidance and a strong support system that included help from homeless advocates, complete strangers willing to give of their time, money and energy, Katherine and her children were able to bounce back and return to a life of somewhat relative normalcy. A stable job, new car, and a secure roof over their heads has provided a foundation on which to rebuild from. However, the damage done through this experience has left emotional scars and damage that will not soon heal in the minds of these young children, and these experiences manifest themselves in heartbreaking ways. Kayla, the oldest of her siblings is most definitely experiencing the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and is displaying behavior most associated with a newborn baby. Her brothers, Kyle and Mitch are also showing similar signs of trauma, often waking up in the night screaming and crying due to nightmares, often asking their caring and comforting mother if they are at risk of becoming homeless again, fearing that it all could be taken away once more.

In the spirit of it takes a village, this crisis of family homelessness should be a call to arms for any and all individuals who not only have the time, money, and/or resources to contribute and help, but to those who have the empathy and compassion to make a difference in the lives of those living on the edge of poverty and homelessness, and the children who are the unwitting victims of a social system that contributes to living conditions far beyond the control or understanding of a child. The impact we can all have on a child’s sense of security and well-being is immeasurable. We are all capable of extraordinary behavior, going above and beyond when tragedy befalls our fellow human-beings. However, it is usually a catastrophic event out in the open that grabs us and pushes our instincts to help into action. With this problem, family and childhood homelessness, it is the most vulnerable and at risk members of our society who slip through the cracks and go unnoticed. We can all make a difference in the lives of these children. We are all somebody’s child.

Growing up within a family of cattle ranchers from southwest Montana, I assumed I understood the where, how, and why in regards to where our food comes from. From a very young age, I was enthusiastically involved with the inner-workings of the ranch and jumped at every opportunity to work along side my uncles and older cousins. Not a glamourous job, however, the merits of hard work produced a respect and understanding for the way our food is produced. The animals on our farm were never mistreated, and quite the contrary, were looked after in a respectful and caring way. Knowing the other farmers and ranchers in the area solidified my understanding of food production, and at this young age believed this was common practice for farms nationwide. It was not until I was much older that the realization of corporate farming came into focus. With feedlots packed with cattle by the tens of thousands, this type of farming, along with chicken, pig, and big business agriculture, have created a vicious system of
inhumane practices. The treatment of these animals, from questionable feeding practices to the general lack of care for these animals and the foodborne illnesses in question, is a direct result of these mass production practices. Without proper food production practices, combined with strict oversight and regulation, the commercialization of food production has created a tsunami of problems that can no longer be over looked.
It has become frustratingly obvious that food safety, more than ever before, has taken a backseat to production efficiency and maximum profit. Blatant ignorance controls and justifies every aspect of a process that could very simply be regulated to adhere to strict quality control standards. While it seems that government has in place regulatory agencies overlooking issues of food safety, it has been made clear that profits are more important than public health. Although they claim to have the publics safety and best interest in mind, these agencies are under funded and under staffed, heavily influenced, lobbied, and riddled with regulatory loopholes. When it comes to the food we eat, these government agencies have continually dropped the ball. At times with disastrous and fatal results. Through the hard work and research of food activists such as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, as well as, documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner, and Marion Nestle Professor of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU, along with many other investigative news journalists and publications including Consumer Reports, the public has become more aware and better educated regarding the shady practices of food manufacturing and production.
According to Ms. Nestle, “the most authoritative estimate of the yearly number of cases of foodborne disease in the United States is 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths. Furthermore, although outbreaks of foodborne illness have become more dangerous over the years, food producers resist the attempts of government agencies to institute control measures, and major food industries oppose pathogen control measures by every means at their disposal. If it sounds like, or is assumed that, government agencies such as the FDA and the USDA would protect the consumer by every means at their disposal, fact could not be further from the truth. Ms. Nestle continues, “because federal policies cannot ensure that food is safe before people bring it home, government agencies shift the burden of responsibility to consumers.” Government oversight of food safety has long tended to provide far more protection to food producers than to the public. Today, an inventory of federal food safety activities reveals a system breathtaking in its irrationality: 35 separate laws administered by12 agencies housed in six cabinet-level departments. At best, a structure as fragmented as this one would require extraordinary efforts to achieve communication, let alone coordination, and more than 50 interagency agreements govern such efforts. This lack of proper regulation is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food safety, and further investigation exposes alarming practices at the conventional farming level. According to Consumer Reports, life on today’s farm – often a 30,000-cow feedlot or a 60,000-chicken coop, and the need for huge quantities of high-protein rations as well as, the need for slaughterhouses to find a cheap, safe way to dispose of waste gave rise to a marriage of convenience between renderers and food producers, and to the inclusion of animal by-products in animal feed. Through this practice, food animals are now being fed processed feathers, floor wastes from coops, plastic pellets, as well as, meat and bone meal. These waste products, mixed with corn and soybean meal, make up 10-30% of the feed produced for these mega-farm feedlots. It does not take a food safety expert to see all that is wrong with such a practice.
Although many of those who work in big business food production decline to be interviewed about their process, much of the ignorance involved in their decisions and practices have come to light. Blake Hurst, commercial farmer and president of the Missouri Farm Bureau has stated, “plants and animals aren’t the least bit interested in the story the farmer has to tell. They don’t care about his sense of social justice, the size of his farm, or the business model that he has chosen. Plants don’t respond by growing better if the farmer is local, and pigs don’t care much about the methods used in the production of their daily rations.” The absurdity of such statements is fundamental to the myriad of problems that have engulfed the commercial food industry. When farmers such as this, and the government agencies that oversee these practices believe the current methods of production best provide a plentiful and affordable food supply, it becomes painfully obvious that profits are the driving force behind this line of thinking. Attempts to give federal agencies the right to enforce food safety regulations have been blocked repeatedly by food producers and their supporters in congress, sometimes joined by the agencies themselves, and more recently by the courts. These facts have been substantiated and echoed by others also investigating the food industry. In his Documentary, Food Inc., award winning filmmaker Robert Kenner has brought to light many other disturbing facts related to food safety. According to interviews with Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, five companies control 80% of the meat production in this country. Of these companies, ALL have ties or close relations to members of congress or other judicial or political figures. At this alarming statistic, it is not difficult to see that conflict of interest is obviously ignored so as to benefit big business and their partners. Although in a perfect world to have farmers such as Joel Salatin, full-time farmer at Polyface Farms who employs the strictest standard of environmentally-friendly farming practices, as a model for what farming and ranching could and should be, the reality is that we need food produced on a massive scale. However, with the current practices in place that give advantage to the big corporations in farming, and that turn a blind eye to the ridiculous number of violations committed by these individuals, there is very little hope that clean and healthy foods can be produced within this system.
From lack of proper food inspection and regulatory loopholes, to the antibiotics and inedible ingredients put into animal feed, to the ammonia and other chemicals mixed into ground beef and more, every step of the food manufacturing process is rife with unthinkable disregard.
Farming is no longer farming. We are no longer eating food, and what we are eating is the idea of food. When the agencies trusted to oversee food safety have such unimaginable conflicts of interest, how can they be relied upon to give truthful and accurate information on the supposed organic foods also regulated under their authority. Although the FDA and the USDA certify certain foods as organic, claims such as no antibiotics administered, no hormones administered and no chemicals added are unverified. So are claims by some beef brands that their cattle are raised on an all-grain or all-grass diet. Until the loopholes and conflicts of interest are eliminated and proper regulation is the standard and common practice within the food production industry, these problems will only get worse. With a population that is growing by leaps and bounds, not only is the question how will we feed everyone, but how to feed them safely and with the maximum amount of nutrition possible. Corporate farming and ranching is a huge problem that has run away with itself and until proper regulation and loopholes are addressed the dangers associated with foodborne illnesses will only get worse.

Reflection Questions
Unit I / 10%
Using the homework, in-class workshops, revision workshops, etc.

1.) Describe your understanding of the “writer’s project”? How were you able to identify the texts’ “project”? Discuss your own “project” as it pertains to this particular blog article.
– The synthesis of research, information, and quotes to compose a concise understanding of the material and to develop this into a blog-type format. From several sources on the subject of corporate farming and food borne illness, an attempt to combine this information into a quick reading and yet informative document, has been the goal.
2.)  Describe your completion of the “Sorting it Out” workshop? What sections were most beneficial to the development of your ideas—and why? Discuss how this workshop assisted in development of draft and/or assignment organization?
– The “sorting it out” worksheet is very helpful in the organizing of all source material. Drawing connections between these sources by briefly listing their content and literally drawing lines to connect similar thoughts and ideas.
3.)  Describe your understanding of synthesis. What is its importance? How did it manifest within your drafts and/or final blog article? Provide examples.
– To combine the essence of a lot of information into a precise and focused document.
4.)  Describe your own accomplishment (of something) during this unit.
– There is still a lot to learn through the practice of synthesis. Though barely scratching the surface of what this style of writing can accomplish, I feel a greater understanding can only come through further writing.
5.) Discuss the evolution of the main idea. Where did you begin (include the example) and show its progress (again, include example) throughout the drafting/revision process. To what do you attribute its evolution?
– The main idea was always to take a stand and express a certain combative uneasiness with the discovery of facts connected to the issue of food borne illness. The evolution of this article came in understanding that a lot of information had to be condensed into a short and concise reading.
6.) Discuss what organizational strategies you implemented in order to structure this blog article. Provide examples from a section(s) of an earlier draft and other excerpts in later drafts to support your response.
– For someone who enjoys long precise explanations, and see’s no end to research, the challenge with this writing was to trim the fat and then trim the fat again. The organizational strategies came mostly from the ‘sorting it out’ worksheet to find the essence of what needed to be presented and what we could do without. From an earlier draft, (The modern American supermarket has on average 47,000 products. Of these products, the majority have been processed and produced under sub-standard conditions with sub-standard ingredients. Seventy percent of these foods contain GMO’s) seemed to not be necessary in the sense that my article was focusing more on food borne illness and its cause. Although this information was important and concise, more could be said with less.
7.) Provide an example of the final draft where you successfully synthesize 3 texts in a concise and direct manner. Discuss how this evolved throughout the drafting process for you.
– I don’t believe there is a truly successful synthesis of this manner. Although there is a synthesis taking place, the challenge has been to find a way to really tighten this up. The synthesis seems to take place over the course of a whole paragraph, and attempts at trying to accomplish this in one or two sentences has been unsuccessful in my view. Synthesis seems to be an exercise in fine-tuning, saying more with less, and success at this type of writing needs the benefit of lots of practice.
8.) Discuss the evolution of the ‘lede’ in earlier drafts and its final version (provide examples of each): where did you begin, what feedback did you receive, and how did it end up in final blog article?
– The ‘lede’ in this article did not find its way until late in the process, and therefore did not receive necessary feedback. Due to the personal nature exposed by mentioning my upbringing, there was much thought and concern as to how to present this passionately yet with modesty as well. (Growing up within a family of cattle ranchers from southwest Montana, I assumed I understood the where, how, and why in regards to where our food comes from.)
9.) Name a specific writing/researching/revision goal you’d like to work on during the next Unit projects.
– Although much was learned from the process of synthesis, an intriguing and informing exercise, there is still much more to be learned about synthesis.

It has become frustratingly obvious that food safety, more than ever before, has taken a backseat to production efficiency and maximum profit. Blatant ignorance controls and justifies every aspect of a process that could very simply be regulated to adhere to strict quality control standards. While it seems that government has in place regulatory agencies overlooking issues of food safety, it has been made clear that profits are more important than public health. Although they claim to have the publics safety and best interest in mind, these agencies are under funded and under staffed, heavily influenced, lobbied and riddled with regulatory loopholes. When it comes to the food we eat, these government agencies have continually dropped the ball. At times with disastrous and fatal results. Through the hard work and research of food activists such as Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, as well as, documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner, and Marion Nestle Professor of Nutrition and Food Studies at NYU, along with many other investigative news journalists and publications including Consumer Reports, the public has become more aware and better educated regarding the shady practices of food manufacturing and production. According to Ms. Nestle, the most authoritative estimate of the yearly number of cases of foodborne disease in the United States is 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths. Furthermore, although outbreaks of foodborne illness have become more dangerous over the years, food producers resist the attempts of government agencies to institute control measures, and major food industries oppose pathogen control measures by every means at their disposal. If it sounds like, or is assumed that, government agencies such as the FDA and the USDA would protect the consumer by every means at their disposal, fact could not be further from the truth. Ms. Nestle continues, because federal policies cannot ensure that food is safe before people bring it home, government agencies shift the burden of responsibility to consumers. Government oversight of food safety has long tended to provide far more protection to food producers than to the public. Today, an inventory of federal food safety activities reveals a system breathtaking in its irrationality: 35 separate laws administered by12 agencies housed in six cabinet-level departments. At best, a structure as fragmented as this one would require extraordinary efforts to achieve communication, let alone coordination, and more than 50 interagency agreements govern such efforts. This lack of proper regulation is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food safety, and further investigation exposes alarming practices at the conventional farming level. According to Consumer Reports, life on today’s farm – often a 30,000-cow feedlot or a 60,000-chicken coop, and the need for huge quantities of high-protein rations as well as, the need for slaughterhouses to find a cheap, safe way to dispose of waste gave rise to a marriage of convenience between renderers and food producers, and to the inclusion of animal by-products in animal feed. Through this practice, food animals are now being fed processed feathers, floor wastes from coops, plastic pellets, as well as, meat and bone meal. These waste products, mixed with corn and soybean meal, make up 10-30% of the feed produced for these mega-farm feedlots. It does not take a food safety expert to see all that is wrong with such a practice. Although many of those who work in big business food production decline to be interviewed about their process, much of the ignorance involved in their decisions and practices have come to light. Blake Hurst, commercial farmer and president of the Missouri Farm Bureau has stated, plants and animals aren’t the least bit interested in the story the farmer has to tell. They don’t care about his sense of social justice, the size of his farm, or the business model that he has chosen. Plants don’t respond by growing better if the farmer is local, and pigs don’t care much about the methods used in the production of their daily rations. The absurdity of such statements is fundamental to the myriad of problems that have engulfed the commercial food industry. When farmers such as this, and the government agencies that oversee these practices believe the current methods of production best provide a plentiful and affordable food supply, it becomes painfully obvious that profits are the driving force behind this line of thinking. Attempts to give federal agencies the right to enforce food safety regulations have been blocked repeatedly by food producers and their supporters in congress, sometimes joined by the agencies themselves, and more recently by the courts. These facts have been substantiated and echoed by others also investigating the food industry. In his Documentary, Food Inc., award winning filmmaker Robert Kenner has brought to light many other disturbing facts related to food safety. According to interviews with Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, five companies control 80% of the meat production in this country. Of these companies, ALL have ties or close relations to members of congress or other judicial or political figures. At this alarming statistic, it is not difficult to see that conflict of interest is obviously ignored so as to benefit big business and their partners. From lack of proper food inspection and regulatory loopholes, to the antibiotics and inedible ingredients put into animal feed, to the ammonia and other chemicals mixed into ground beef and more, every step of the food manufacturing process is rife with unthinkable disregard. Farming is no longer farming. We are no longer eating food, and what we are eating is the idea of food. When the agencies trusted to oversee food safety have such unimaginable conflicts of interest, how can they be relied upon to give truthful and accurate information on the supposed organic foods also regulated under their authority. Although the FDA and the USDA certify certain foods as organic, claims such as no antibiotics administered, no hormones administered and no chemicals added are unverified. So are claims by some beef brands that their cattle are raised on an all-grain or all-grass diet.