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The State of Homeless Shelters in America

As much as the country aims to supply its resources effectively to its homeless population, sometimes fundamental aspects such as the quality of shelters, is overlooked. The UN recently declared that shelters in California were quite similar to the rat-infested, garbage-strewn, overcrowded, and abandoned shelters found around the world. The treatment of the homeless population living in these shelters is especially worse, for example, in shelters within the San Francisco and Oakland areas, homeless individuals are denied access to basic necessities such as water, and proper health services, in an effort to get rid of as many residents as possible from these shelters. In an effort to solve for the overcrowding in homeless shelters, officials are compromising on the sole mission of these organizations: to serve as many homeless individuals as possible. As wealth inequality worsens, homelessness rates continue to skyrocket, and the treatment of those who seek help from shelters in simply inexcusable. This problem is not completely due to a lack of resources, but is also caused by individuals who would rather have an uncrowded shelter than one filled with a large population who needs the resource. Luckily, peaceful protests and petitions help bring light to the individuals complicit in the problem, and are slowly making change to the way in which our homeless shelters are run.

– Siya Sharma (11th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Natural Calamities: Lack of basic necessities

In the last couple of weeks, the topics of conversation have been centered around domestic issues i.e. Supreme Court proceedings and the US trade negotiations. The constant stream of breaking news on any new developments on these issues seem to have eclipsed the mind-numbing devastation caused by recent earthquake, followed by the massive tsunami in Indonesia. We glance over the page of the newspaper with sympathy, and then flip over to the next one instead of looking back and realizing that the death toll has reached an astronomical 1, 350 individuals. Even though most of the deaths were caused directly by the earthquake and the tsunami that ensued; gaping holes in the tsunami early warning system, combined with lack of drinking water and electricity in the vicinity of the targeted area has exacerbated the impact, and the devastation. While the scientists are looking at – how an earthquake of this magnitude could have triggered such a massive Tsunami, there are growing observations and concerns about rising sea-levels that may have played a role; suggesting a direct link between climate change and the impact it may have on a natural phenomenon like this. Having said that – the resources are scarce in Indonesia, and the victims of the disaster are unable to fix the damage themselves. Buildings and homes have been destroyed, and the lack of infrastructure is making the situation worse. As we have seen before, this tragedy once again exposes the disparity that exists in different parts of the world, when it comes to access to very basic necessities. It is imperative that the international community does whatever it can to assist the people and families who have been devastated by this natural calamity.

– Siya Sharma (11th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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The Effects of Extreme Poverty

The U.N. recently declared that 40 million Americans live in poverty, and 18.5 million live in “extreme poverty.” Extreme poverty is the severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, clean water, health, shelter, and education. Many of those living in extreme poverty earn less than $4/day, which is not enough to sustain a proper state of living in the United States. The government’s underestimation, or the U.N.’s overestimation, has led to a debate regarding the threshold of extreme poverty.  In all honesty, the current estimates seems to be a bit low, considering that an extremely large number of Americans are homeless in the status quo. This underestimation is detrimental to facing the eminent problem facing the country right now and the population of individuals facing extreme poverty is constantly increasing. We need to face the fact that millions live in extreme poverty, and we need to adjust/increase our estimates accordingly as we try to address this issue, otherwise the problem will never be resolved.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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A New Healthcare Plan for Small Businesses

The Trump Administration just issued a new healthcare plan for small businesses and self-employed individuals that costs drastically less than previous plans, and contains fewer benefits as well. This policy was issued by the administration in an effort to provide a cheaper alternative to the ACA. The act will specifically allow small businesses and self-employed individuals to group together based on industry or location specifications, and buy cheaper health insurance. This allows small business health plans to be regulated in the same way as the plans of much larger corporations, thus fulfilling the administration’s hope to “level the playing field,” when it comes to health care plan regulations for all businesses alike. Though this newly issued plan comes with fewer benefits, it seems to be more beneficial to small businesses who may not be able to pay a standard premium, but rather wish to have their costs be determined by their profession, or region. Hopefully this plan will work to meet the financial needs of its targeted audience, but only time will tell.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Education: A platform for outreach.

Education can be utilized by students to gain social and economic mobility, and therefore it deserves to be discussed on this platform. Education has enough of a significance to help pull students out of the poverty cycle, and so it is our job to discuss how we can improve the quality of this necessity. Studies show that high school performance is correlated with state median income, and academic performance is directly affected by the students’ school and house conditions. If we can improve the quality of schools, then we can improve the socioeconomic conditions of students within these institutions, thus breaking the cycle of poverty.  You might be asking, how do we improve the quality of schools around the nation? Here is how: bottom-up movements facilitated through discussions and programs focused on demand for reform, outreaches towards parental engagement, creative, project-based learning approaches, and leveraging the media to help spread the message. School, and community leaders can work with troubled youth, and most importantly, we can educate students about organizations that only work to help improve their school conditions, such as the Office of Civil Rights under the Department of Education. It can be inferred that the education system tends to favor the ones with more resources, however, even teachers can work towards fighting poverty by addressing its prevalence amongst students, and helping to give encouragement to these students, so that they can improve their conditions, and ultimately break the cycle of poverty that they are subject to in the status quo. It is possible, now more than ever to help students change the course of their futures for the better.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Homelessness

With a nationwide rate of 565, 000 people experiencing homelessness on any given day, emergency shelter, and transitional housing programs are only putting a dent in this overgrowing population of less fortunate individuals. While the poverty rate increases to 47 million people, many of these low-income families also experience homelessness, as a result of eviction or foreclosure of their previous homes. This isn’t always the fault of the households, since the cost of living in major cities has become difficult for many lower, and middle class families. If we can increase the amount of transitional housing programs in developing areas, where the population consists greatly of poverty-stricken families, the rate of homelessness will go down significantly, as the emergency shelters become a means of temporary arrangements until families can get back on their feet. Along with the creation of more shelters, there has to be concern about the ongoing violence and theft that occurs within these programs, consequently prompting many individuals to live on the streets, rather than asking for help.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Academic Pursuits Within Low-Income Households

Poverty is a state of having little to no means of financial support. Consequently, it has an adverse effect on the academic outcomes of children who must support their families, and in turn neglect their own education. This mentality only contributes to the cycle of poverty, by making it difficult for low-income children to learn the skills necessary to obtain a job, and lift themselves out of destitution. Have you ever wondered if these students are just repeating the actions of their parents? As earlier generations dropout of high school, and end up in poverty, the children are six times more likely to do the same. This adds up to a total of 1 in 4 high school students becoming dropouts, in order to pursue a job, and support the economic needs of their household. Not only does this decision ruin any chances for academic achievement, but it can also cause behavioral problems, physical health deterioration, and developmental delays. I believe the first step to ending the poverty of 47 million people in the United States, is to educate the students about the problems that occur by discontinuing school. Low-income households with high school dropouts, lead to a lifestyle of penury for the generations to come. We must remind scholars, that it is easier to work towards a successful education now, rather than suffer later.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Education For All

On March 8, we celebrate International Women’s Day, but if two-thirds of the 774 million illiterate people in this world are female, then why do we continue to possess a notion of gender equality, when it is practically nonexistent? In an era of feminism, education is power, and it helps millions of girls realize the true potential they possess. Sadly, in developing countries they are prohibited from going to school, because it could empower them to break the ideals of becoming only a wife, and a mother. My understanding was that developing countries experienced a belief of subordination for females, but when women are paid 79 cents on the dollar in the United States, for working the same hours as men, I realized that these ideologies are international. Gender inequality is real, and it starts out as a lack of education for millions of females in developing countries. Without school, women do not have the skills to work, resulting in poverty for the generations to come. Education allows these women to make their own decisions, and influence change among their communities. This necessity is the only solution to ending our pay gap issue, but we must first start with a positive outlook towards gender equality, and only then can young girls strive to educate themselves, and change the world.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Our Contribution as a Society

More than 32% of the nation’s families are low income households. With a rise in low-income students, school districts support these families, through reduced pay lunch and other benefits. After school ends, how do students provide themselves with the basic necessities of life, consequently when they aren’t given these means of financial aid? Poverty is a recurrent topic of the news, but as a society, we haven’t helped these people to our full potential. If half of the world’s population, more than 3 billion people, live off $2.50 a day, is it because they were born to live in a state of destitution, or because we haven’t assisted enough to minimize this ever growing population of penury stricken individuals?

When we think of poverty, the first thing that comes to mind is undernourishment, and the sad reality of unequal wealth distribution. The richest people would have to contribute 60 billion dollars in order to end global poverty annually, which only happens to be ¼ of their overall income. What we don’t realize, is that 1 billion children are living in poverty, and 22,000 children die everyday because of hunger, and lack of healthcare, due to their financial situation. Children that are born into a state of destitution, have a higher chance of contracting diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, since they cannot afford vaccinations to prevent these illnesses. Low income students have a higher chance of developing cognitive disabilities, and are seven times more likely to drop out of high school, than those from families with higher income. Poverty isn’t just one issue, but a daily obstacle in many aspects of a child’s life. From unsafe drinking water, to an increase in illiteracy rates, impoverished families aren’t able to provide the basic necessities needed to thrive in an evolving world. Our contribution as a society, is to restore the lives of low-income families, and make sure that global poverty develops into a nonexistent problem, that no one should face.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          – Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Poverty Amid Affluence

In a capitalist economy, the top 20% owns most of the nation’s money, leaving the lower and middle class to survive off 7% of the United States’ overall affluence. Our understanding of “ideal” wealth distribution is heavily inaccurate, making us believe that the nation’s money is dispersed in an equitable system, with the bottom 80% and top 20% battling it out for a 50-50 share of 84.9 trillion dollars. In reality, Americans are underestimating the gap between the rich and the rest of the population, because nearly 47 million people are living in poverty, and the elite take more than half of the nation’s earnings in any given year. In a 2011 study conducted by Harvard business professor Mike Norton, and economist Dan Ariely, it was discovered that 92% of Americans “ideal” of what wealth distribution looks like in our nation, was extremely flawed. What we don’t realize, is that the wealth designated to the top 20% in actuality, is the affluence of the top 1%, and the rest of our nation’s people must work 380 times harder than the upper class, to make the same income. This imbalance of the distribution of wealth is not just limited to our nation’s earnings, but also in other areas. For example, most of our wealth is divided up into financial instruments such as, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and the top 1% owns half of the stock market, while the bottom 50% only owns half a percent. This is because the upper class can afford to invest, while the lower class is on the verge of poverty, and these large amounts of people are barely scraping by. Wealth inequality is a major issue facing our nation, and it has caused 15% of our nation to live in a state of destitution. Instead of resorting to other means to fix this problem, we should educate ourselves, and realize that wealth distribution in America isn’t as just as we thought it was, and we should work towards a long-term sustainable solution.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Healthcare Equality

When it comes to universal health coverage and access to basic healthcare for people around the world, some of the most important principles of governing bodies such as the UN are based on fairness, equality, and ensuring that no one is left behind. Healthcare systems and services are expected to be resilient enough to provide for every citizen of a country. Sadly, governments around the world, especially in developing countries struggle to provide basic health services to its people.

Private health care on the other hand, in many of these countries is not affordable to a large population because of its high cost. Payments for private healthcare becomes an out-of-pocket expense for most people thus leading millions into the state of poverty every year. People try to obtain health care, but lack of financial resource and information leads to worsening of health, which further impacts their income.

Research shows that poverty is highly correlated with poor health, as quality health care services and facilities tend to be more accessible to affluent sections of the society in general, rather than treating people in poor communities with the greatest health care needs. Adolescents, children, and seniors are the most affected ones, because they suffer from mental health disorders, substance use, poor nutrition, injuries, and chronic illnesses.

In the United States, despite of the fact that we have a very advanced health care system, our country is scattered with so called “healthcare deserts,” not just in rural areas but in large cities surrounded by prosperous health care giants. Health care services in these areas have essentially abandoned the poor who are in greater need of health services, and have followed the money instead. The poor are exposed to greater health risks, and are less nourished in general. They do not have access to medical information, thus having a higher risk of illness and disability.

For our nation, and the world to prosper, the policy of ‘Healthcare Equality’ needs to be acknowledged, accepted and implemented universally. If we put this basic principal in practice, we can provide essential health care to people all around the globe, ensuring that the our actions will have a prodigious impact.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Water – The next big frontier

Water is the most essential necessity for human survival. But sadly it looks like our supply of this quintessential fluid is about to run out. The World Economic Forum recently named water crisis the world’s number one risk for the next 10 years for its potential impact on global population and industry. Water has turned into a topic of economic discussion in boardrooms instead of a “green issue” as it used to be referred previously. For the first time, it has been categorized as the highest risk of global devastation, ahead of wars or a worldwide pandemic. NASA research shows that availability of water is being drawn down at a much faster pace than its being replenished. By some estimates, global water demand is going to overshoot supply by 40% by year 2030, and by 2050, well over 3 billion people globally would be living under severe water stress. Currently over 750 million people globally lack access to safe drinking water and over 2 billion have no access to proper sanitation facilities. Somewhere around 50 countries are officially classified as being ‘water stressed.’

In United States, several states are facing this crisis, but none has been hit as much as California, since the drought kicked in around four years ago. It’s now classified as ‘extreme to exceptional,’ affecting the entire state. Groundwater levels across the state have steadily declined over a hundred feet, and the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains is just 5% of what it used to be.

Severe shortage of snowfall and consistent rain has impacted the entire agricultural industry in the state, which cultivates more than 90 percent of country’s produce such as artichokes, garlic, peaches, and walnuts. With the severe drought that CA is facing, it’s just a matter of time, that availability of fresh produce might become a rarity. It is so severe, that for the first time in over 35 years cutbacks to farmer’s water rights were announced this year and cities and towns across the state were ordered to cut back on water use by almost 36%. Another significant way this crisis is impacting the state is in the form of wildfires. Because of agricultural loss due to lack of water, crops are drying up and high temperatures combined with these dry conditions increase the chances of a wildfire.

The crisis is forcing more and more people to rely on groundwater, which in-turn is also vanishing. Sadly, about 20 percent of groundwater that Californians rely on contains high concentrations of arsenic, uranium, and nitrate. This has been corroborated by a USGS study, which suggests that state’ vanishing ground water supply is widely contaminated.

Authorities are trying innovative ways to achieve conservation including things like ‘Shade Balls’ that are said to block sunlight and UV rays, which promotes algae growth and slows down evaporation. But even with this conservation with the help of technology, the drought would cost California’s economy somewhere around $2.7 billion dollars. Overall it could cost United States over $1 trillion over the next several years to fix the water infrastructure.

The drought is a warning of sorts for us and an opportunity to think through water usage and conservation before longer-term trends take hold that will severely limit access to water on a more permanent basis. Water is crucial for human survival, health, and dignity. It is a global driver for business, for food and energy security, for the ecosystems and habitats upon which our societies and continued development depends. Water is key to food security, global health, education, disaster management, climate change adaptation and mitigation, conflict prevention and finally human security. So its imperative that we collectively address this crisis before it reaches a point of no return.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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Small Aspirations

There are currently over 16 million children in the United States living in poverty. This is nearly 1/5 of the total population of children living in our country, which means 1 in 5 children in US are living in poverty and cannot afford basic needs such as food & shelter. These children are living in households with an average income below $23K for a family of four. It takes more than this much income to provide the basic expenses needed for food, water, shelter, clothing, health care, and education. Children are usually impacted the most from living in such extreme poverty. For example, they are less healthy, lack others in terms of intellectual development, and are more likely to not complete high school or receive a college education. As adults, these children usually continue to face the issue of poverty along with their families.

More than half of these poverty-stricken households have to face issues in receiving basic education. Illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes are prevalent in these homes. Because of rising housing costs, 1/6 of these families have experienced eviction, or a foreclosure of their homes. In fact, 93% of poor households struggle to cope with their increasing housing, utility, and education costs, and compromise on paying bills, just to buy food. In an average household struggling with poverty, adequate employment is hard to find due to lack of education, and the rarity of finding a full-time job.

Of all the issues that these families are faced with, food insecurity ranks at the top. Sadly, because of this food insecurity, health care, housing, and education are compromised to provide substantial food quantities to the children in such households. A lack in income results into dependency on some 200 food banks and 600,000 food pantries around the United States that help out households needing assistance to provide adequate food supply to their families. Because of the increase in poverty stricken households, food banks are serving almost 46.5 million people across the United States, which is 1/7 of the total population. Out of which, some 12 million are young children, and 7 million are seniors.

Sadly, as poverty rates have increased by nearly five percent since 2007, so have the cuts in some government sponsored programs. Just to take an example, the $8.6 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits that have been cut in the legislation known as the 2014 Farm Bill. This legislation cuts SNAP benefits, such as food stamps that are given to more than 45 million people living in poverty. These cuts affect about 800,000 – 900,000 households (or approximately 4% of people who rely on food stamps).  Some argue that the cuts close a loophole known as “heat and eat” where some of the states leverage their Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program assistance, or LIHEAP assistance to provide SNAP benefits to low-income families.  Advocates of these cuts say that those families receive more SNAP benefits than they should.  Others argue that this loophole is necessary to provide the poor families much needed benefits.

Whatever the reasons may be; whether it is insufficient government funding, economy, lack of basic education or lack of enough opportunities for people at the bottom resulting in growing income inequalities, the fact is that a very significant percentage of the total population of the most powerful nation on the face of earth lives under alarming poverty where the poor (especially children) & destitute do not have access to the very ‘Basic Necessities’ of life. Necessities that most of us, if not all, take for granted.

As we make new resolutions for ourselves & hope our wishes come true, we must not forget the ones that are downtrodden. We must remember that there are many around us in despair who also have ‘Small Aspirations’ they hope will be fulfilled someday.

– Siya Sharma (10th Grade Student, Santa Clara, CA)

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