1. HIRE THE HOMELESS;
END THE CYCLE
By Rachel Christian
The weather is getting colder outside—but
not everyone in Baltimore will sleep inside
tonight. Thousands of people in the city are
going without the basic human necessity of
shelter. In Baltimore and across the country,
homelessness is on the rise and so is
unemployment. Baltimore’s 10-Year Plan to
End Homelessness was released three years
ago, but so far its value has been like putting
a Band-Aid on a broken arm. The plan is
failing. Homelessness has only gotten worse
thanks to the downturn in the economy. The
government needs to focus on effective
long-term solutions to the problem. Fixing
the job market is the first step towards
ending homelessness in Baltimore and the
government is responsible for generating
more job opportunities for the jobless poor.
The growing problem of unemployment is
by no means a secret. Most people have
some sort of connection to someone—
perhaps a father, sister, cousin, or friend—
who is impacted by job loss. According to
Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing
and Regulation, unemployment in the
Baltimore-Towson area has more than
doubled since 2007—from about 52,000 to
106,000 people ("Civilian Labor Force”).
The 2011 census report on homelessness
shows that in the same short time period, the
homeless population in Baltimore rose by
over a thousand people (Morgan State 9-10).
There is a connection between the rise of
unemployment and the rise of homelessness.
Without a steady source of income, people
cannot pay rent and therefore many often
face foreclosure on their homes. There are
people with a family to support that lose
their jobs and become at risk of losing their
home. More jobs need to be created so all in
our community can afford to live.
Fixing unemployment is not the singular
answer to ending homelessness, but it is one
of many issues that need to be addressed.
Paying rent is impossible without the steady
income that a job provides. All workers
should have sufficient incomes. Baltimore
was the first city in the nation to legalize
‘living wages’ of $11.30, much higher than
minimum wage and substantial enough for
workers to afford the basic necessities of
living (Greenhouse 1). Some argue that
higher wages hurt employers, but the living
wage ordinance is beneficial to everyone.
Workers who are better paid have better
morale, work harder, and do a better job.
Employers get more work accomplished
when their workers are happy. The
community benefits too because, as one
Baltimore journalist puts it, “employers who
do not pay their workers a living wage pass
a burden on to taxpayers, who are forced to
subsidize low wage earners with
government-funded programs” (Gentile 1).
As more people are earning living wages,
fewer people are depending on costly
shelters or food programs. In a state where
workers have the right to proper wages, why
are so many citizens living in poverty? The
high level of unemployment accounts for the
problem. If there were enough jobs to match
the number of jobseekers, Baltimore would
not have such severe poverty.
Given the economic crisis, it is easy to
assume the government cannot afford to
invest in new creating jobs. But can we
afford not to? Can we afford to keep
supporting the ever-growing jobless
population? Even if the economy recovers,
unemployment could still be a pressing
problem; that is the belief of Michael
Spence, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at

2. the Council on Foreign Relations and winner
of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics. He
asserts that “[w]hat is needed instead of
benign neglect is, first, an agreement that
restoring rewarding employment
opportunities for a full spectrum of
Americans should be a fundamental goal”
(6). According to Spence, the problem with
the job market is that the poorest members
of our society have fewer job opportunities
because they cannot afford the education
required for high-skill jobs (2). Educated or
not, everyone has a right to make a living.
The government should provide all its
citizens with the chance to work. President
Obama is trying to make fixing the job
market a priority. He is encouraging
Congress to pass the American Jobs Act.
“As we end these wars, we’re focusing on
our greatest challenge as a nation: rebuilding
the economy.” With less focus on war
spending, we can now invest in “our own
people” (Obama 1). His plan would not only
create up to 1.9 billion jobs but also
implement a tax credit for hiring people who
have been long unemployed (Sperling 2).
Gene Sperling, director of the president’s
National Economic Council, encourages
Congress to pass Obama’s plan, saying “Our
economy cannot afford Republicans to say
no to both the American Jobs Act and to
have no meaningful alternatives. This
moment is too serious” (2). Congress needs
to take action soon to fix unemployment.
The longer it takes, the more people lose
their jobs, homes, and dignity.
Employers have an opportunity to help right
now by hiring currently homeless
individuals. Unfortunately, not enough
employers see it that way. An article in the
Baltimore Sun reported that many Baltimore
employers hire nonlocals instead of those in
the community who are desperately seeking
to break out of the cycle of poverty.
Baltimore City Councilman Carl Strokes
remarked, “We create jobs in this town, but
they’re frequently going to people who live
elsewhere” (Kilar 2). Why not give new jobs
to the people in our own community who
most desperately need employment? There
is a stigma in the workforce against hiring
homeless individuals who are stereotyped as
lazy, alcoholic ex-criminals. That stereotype
holds only partial truth, as with most
stereotypes. Homeless job-seekers are trying
to escape from that stereotypical lifestyle.
Discrimination in the workforce keeps our
homeless citizens are trapped.
Some employers defend their choice not to
hire homeless individuals by saying they do
not want under-qualified workers, but many
people living in extreme poverty possess
valuable skills. Equating homelessness to
laziness or incompetence is a discriminatory
assumption. Many competent people have
lost their jobs because companies have
downsized to cut costs. The title of a recent
article in the Baltimore Sun sums up the
consequences of job cuts: “A Grim Time to
Be Older, Jobless: Rough Economy is
Pushing Some Unemployed Workers Over
50 into Homelessness.” The percentage of
homeless Baltimoreans between age 51 and
61 jumped from about 12% to 30% in the
past two years (Maryland Department 23;
Morgan State 12). Despite ample years of
experience, many recently laid-off workers
are struggling to get rehired, unable to pay
rent, and forced to live on the streets of
Baltimore. With fewer companies willing to
hire the unemployed, it is more difficult for
these experienced people to get a proper
income. Obama’s American Jobs Act would
“ban hiring discrimination against the
unemployed,” which in itself worsens the
devastating condition of joblessness
(Sperling 2). Employers should not need a
congressional act to stop their
discriminatory tendencies. They can choose
to change now.

3. Homelessness will only continue to rise if
people cannot find jobs. Business owners
can do their part too by investing in more
employees from the Baltimore community.
Maryland government and the federal
government need to encourage the
expansion of new job industries. Congress
should not delay passing Obama’s Job Act.
Reversing the trend of homelessness cannot
be accomplished without first providing the
poor with an income. Job creation is vital.
Let us not put another Band-Aid on the
broken arm of homelessness; instead, let us
put the problems in a cast, giving
homelessness the environment it needs in
order to heal.

4. Works Cited
"Civilian Labor Force, Employment & Unemployment by Place of Residence (LAUS) -
Baltimore-Towson." Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Division
of Workforce Development and Adult Learning. 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 10 Nov 2011.
<http://dllr.maryland.gov/lmi/laus/baltotowson.shtml>.
Gentile, Annie. "Wage Laws See Varied Results Over 14 Years." American City & County
123.10 (2008): 16-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 10 Nov 2011.
Greenhouse, Steven. "Maryland Is First State to Require Living Wage." New York Times 09
May 2007: 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
“A Grim Time to be Older, Jobless: Rough Economy is Pushing Some Unemployed Workers
Over 50 into Homelessness.” The Baltimore Sun. 23 Jan 2011.
Governor's Interagency Council on Homelessness. 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness. 2005.
Print.
Kilar, Steve. “25% in Baltimore Living in Poverty.” The Baltimore Sun. 2011.
Maryland Department of Human Resources. Office of Grants Management. Annual Report on
Homeless Services, Fiscal Year 2009. Baltimore, 2009. Print.
Morgan State University School of Architecture and Planning. Counting Matters: Baltimore City
Homeless Point-In-Time Census Report (2011). Report submitted to the Mayor’s Office
of Human Services. 2011.
Obama, Barack. "The President's Weekly Address." Daily Compilation Of Presidential
Documents (2011): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
Spence, Michael. "The Impact Of Globalization On Income And Employment." Foreign Affairs
90.4 (2011): 28-41. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Nov 2011.
Sperling, Gene. "The Case for the President's Jobs Act." Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition 21
Oct. 2011: A15. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.