Project Space

Lucy Balian    

Professor Broadous

PAS 113B

Limited Space

            Each individual admires their space differently, depending on how much they have or lost. If a person were to have their necessities taken away, their space would chance completely. They would have an altered opinion as to what is valuable and mandatory to survive. People usually define space by where someone lives, wears, eats, and likes. All these factors can be found in a person’s home. However, if a person loses their home because they cannot afford it, than they no longer have their space. Families have been corrupted due to the recession, and the poverty rate is increasing every day. Because homelessness is becoming more common, people are separated from the space that was once so comforting, stable, secure, and reassuring. People now have to settle in motels, relative’s homes, or even cars. Poverty is rising and children are being affected, education is not as accessible to those in poverty, and health is becoming difficult to manage. Poverty affects individuals and families psychologically, economically, and socially.

            The U.S has 150 million in poverty, and that number is only rising, (Smiley). Millions of houses have been foreclosed because families can no longer afford them. “As property values have plummeted, many homeowners find their mortgages ‘under water’-they owe more on their mortgage than their house is worth” (U.S Social and Economic Trends). Because of the decrease in job demands, people cannot work to make money to pay for a house. More people are moving in with family members to save money, because the other alternative would be living in a shelter or getting money illegally. This can corrupt ones space because they do not have privacy and time to themselves. I decided to volunteer at a homeless shelter, and the space in which the homeless people could stay was limited. There was a certain amount of apartments that the families and individuals could stay in. These people had about 6 months to live in these homes until they got themselves a job. Furthermore, there had to be certain requirements in order to live in the shelter. The shelter was not an option for those who could not meet the specific requirements. Children are affected the most because they lose charisma and grow to be distant. Donations are given to the homeless people, and often time these donations are torn up clothes, broken kitchen utensils, canned food, or dirty toys for children to play with. Children feel embarrassed towards their friends about their living circumstances, so they do not socialize as often. It is crucial for a person to have a social life to grow up properly. One boy relates to being distant and not social. He explains how people would complain about the way he’d talk too often. However, when he became homeless, he said opinions have changed, and people are now asking why he is so quiet and “to himself” (60 Minutes). His personal belongings were taken away from him, and he was left with nothing, which is an example of how space defines a person. This lifestyle and behavior of children is becoming common to families and individuals across the United States, as poverty is rising and becoming more of an issue.

            Those in poverty have less access to education, than people in the middle and high class population. Many children in poverty do not focus in education, because they are trying to find jobs to help pay for necessities to survive. School is a space for children and teenagers to develop knowledge and experiences, but because of low income, that space is no longer apart of the lives of many children and young adults. In school, children are taught to read, write, solve equations, and exercise their logic. Now that school isn’t part of their daily lifestyle, the basic reading level has decreased. Children struggle in reading and learning because they do not have the proper resources to be taught. “There are young mothers and fathers whose literacy skills must be improved to prevent their children from relieving their own cycle of low skills and low wages. There are teenage mothers who are ill prepared to face a demanding work force” (Cummings). Because their parents have lower than basic reading skills as well, there is no way the parents can help with improving the children’s reading skills. Children are not educated, and our next generation will suffer because of it. Those in poverty have a higher drop-out rate than the upper class. “Studies show that children’s performance in school directly correlates to the income of their families. We have 1.8 million children living in poverty in Florida. That children in poverty don’t perform well starts with the fact 67 million don’t have any access to education” (Schatz). The public schools that low income children attend do not provide a good source of education. There are music teachers who have to teach math classes, and even P.E teachers who have to teach academic courses as well. In the shelter I volunteered in, the establishment urged the children and teenagers to learn and go to school. The place even provided tutors to help the children with reading and math. The teens had a variety of books to read. Sadly, most shelters cannot afford resources like this. One boy claims that he had to drop of high school in his senior year because he had to find a job to help his family financially. His parents lost their jobs, and also lost their homes because they could not afford to pay off the debts and bills. They were temporarily living in their van, than moving in multiple motels. He said that education was not a concern, but survival was more important because of the situation his family was in (60 Minutes).       

            Health is difficult to manage when living an impoverished life style. Many people with low income do not have the money to spend on healthy food, because healthy food is more expensive. Instead, they eat what people donate. Often times in shelters, people donate canned foods which contain starch and artificial chemicals. This is unhealthy for one’s body, and can later turn to something far more serious. “In the United States low income immigrant groups experience greater health disparities and worse health-related outcomes than whites, including but not limited to higher rates of type 2 diabetes (T2DM)” (Chaufan). Fortunately, the homeless people I saw in the shelter were provided with 3 healthy meals a day. This was a way for them to save any money they can get, and not have to worry about spending on food which would be an extra expense. This factor interferes with the space of those in poverty, because the people, who have once had jobs to pay for decent food, now have to cope with eating food that is unsatisfying with no nutritional value. It has even gotten to the point where families had to go nights sleeping on an empty stomach. Impoverished children who attend school cannot even focus in their classes because of malnutrition, and they have no energy to complete school work. Living in poverty often times affects ones healthy psychologically too. People who complete their education and earn a degree are more likely to get married than those who do not.