If you have come back from your respective jobs to a home that is warm and cosy, you must praise your stars at once and be grateful for the life you have been blessed with. Not everyone has the comfort of a warm bed and hot meals served at the table as the day ends. Life is hardly the way we perceive it to be. It is wrapped with subtleties and nuances that we often fail to notice. But turning a blind eye to the grim realities of life shall only exacerbate the problems. And homelessness is a major problem. While we might be complaining about how our king size bed does not match the color of our bedroom, there might be several wandering out there in the darkest of the hour, searching for a place to crash for the night. Homelessness, especially that of the elderly is a major concern in many parts of the world. While it might not be possible to eradicate the problem from its very roots, there are a few ways to deal with the problem from a personal level as well as societal level.
Elders Must Be Enlightened About the Retirement Benefits of Life Insurance Policies:
Life insurance policies are really miracle workers, and most of us are unaware of its entire spectrum. Life insurance policies have more utilities than just death benefits. You must consider them as wholesome investment plans, where you invest in securing the future of yourself and your family. The cash benefits of a life insurance policy, according to Marketreview.com, can be used to survive retirement years which is a significant step in mitigating the problem of being homeless. When elders have their own funds to fall back on, they do not need to depend on anyone else for their survival or refuge.
Permanent Supportive Housing System Must Be Made Accessible With a Greater Ease:
Permanent Supportive Housing System is a system that makes affordable living spaces and healthcare facilities available for people who cannot afford to live in their own houses or the ones where they might have to pay a significant amount of money as lease or rent. Permanent Supportive Housing has the potential of reducing the rate of homelessness of the elderly. There are several housing agencies that, on a very personal level, extend supportive housing to these homeless elders who have nowhere else to go. However, the availability of these facilities must be increased so that more elderly people can avail them.
Emergency Shelters Must Be Facilitated:
Providing emergency shelters, at least for a short while, until the transition to a more permanent solution materialises, could be seen as a refreshing measure to deal with the problems of the elderly. More often than not, the elderly find themselves in precarious situations due to a lack of proper housing, when their own children and relatives turn their backs on them. In such cases, these people have nowhere to go. Thus, emergency shelters can at least abate the excruciating conditions for a while and make way for a more permanent living solution.
Conclusion:
Homelessness is a condition that cannot be mitigated unless responsible individuals of the community take the cause personally and think of the future of those who have no one to go to. The elderly have contributed enough to the making and growth of a community. However, when these people end up being homeless, due to ill-treatment by their family members or due to an adverse turn of the fate, the onus of taking charge of the situation and providing them with a roof over their heads falls on the rest of the community. Awareness camps, affordable housing units and emergency shelters are some of the ways to mitigate the crisis; however, one should keep looking for more such ways and deal with the situation as responsibly as possible.
