In Kleniewski’s “Homelessness,” the issue of austere treatment of the homeless is addressed. Kleniewski points out that the homeless are a diverse group of people. I think this is an important point to address because there is often a stigma that all homeless people are where they are for the same reasons or all belong to a certain demographic. Kleniewski also states that though many homeless people may have faced similar situations that lead to their homelessness, it is important to realize that this group is very heterogeneous. Therefore, a number of different measures should be taken to address the problem of taking care of our homeless population. Possible solutions include raising the minimum wage, providing more affordable housing and providing more services for low income families (like healthcare and childcare).

In Frazier’s “Hidden City,” Frazier writes that there have been more homeless people in New York City in recent years than before. People who are part of the mainstream middle class do not realize this, because they cannot see it. This may be due to reasons stated in the above mentioned article: more stringent policing of anti-vagrancy laws and reduction of public benefits that would otherwise keep these people in homes.

Question: Other than top-down measures, are there any other alternative (say, grass-roots-type) measures we can take to educate the public about stereotypes about homeless people in order to try and influence policies made?