How can you help the homeless? The most common thing that comes to mind when someone mentions living in the United States is the “American dream”. This dream includes a family living in a house with a white picket fence around it. The grass is nice and green and everything seems simple and dandy; however, this is rarely seen. In cities there are often people on street corners holding signs that say “I will work for food,” or something like that. The people carrying these signs are part of the growing homeless population. Shelters that serve the homeless are full and running out of resources. At first glance it may seem like a simple matter, but it is actually quite complex. Communities are continually grappling with managing the many homeless citizens and trying to understand the cause so that solutions can be implemented. Solutions for homelessness are being made, both publicly and privately, addressing issues of housing, low income, and education. Instead of helping, there are some areas of the United States that are trying to make homelessness illegal. Merchants, vendors and entrepreneurs see homeless people as a threat and believe they “intimidate customers with aggressive begging.” In addition to intimidation, homeless people can also cause damage to businesses, without any intention of course. The fault lies not only with the homeless, but also with the shelters that help them; there have been complaints that as the number of shelters increases, the number of homeless people also increases (A Dream). Contrary to these beliefs, homeless shelters are actually helping, as they were designed to do. Ministries, such as the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM), are dedicated... to the paper center... and the Web. April 24, 2014. Franklin, D. Homelessness is a housing problem. Health, February 15, 1992. Helping People Off the Streets: Real Solutions to Urban Homelessness. Center for Poverty Solutions. June 25, 2000 http://www.ctrforpovertysolutions.org/public/campus.htm.Hess, Robert. Helping people get off the streets. USA Today Magazine, January 18, 2000. Karinshak, Carole. Teaching homeless adults. Adult Learning, September 28, 1996. Mejeur, Jeanne. "State Minimum Wages | 2014 Minimum Wage by State." State minimum wages | Minimum wage 2014 by state. Np, April 14, 2014. Web. April 24, 2014. .Shinn, Marybeth. Housing is the best cure for homelessness. New York AmsterdamNews 12 Nov 6, 1998.