Abstract

In 2017, there were 7,472 homeless people living in Washington D.C. Their backgrounds vary from those experiencing chronic homelessness to those who are in the midst of brief instability. For nearly half a century, the United States cast a blind eye onto the homeless population as it grew at an alarming rate. However, today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is making strides to create sustainable programs for the homeless population in this country, although they too have their shortcomings. Homelessness affects all of us, and as witnesses to the crisis, we are responsible to help and sympathize with the homelessness epidemic in our nation’s capital  and across the nation.