Write an essay (minimum 750 words) explaining exactly how you would
personally organize or plan community initiative that would provide support
to the FAMU community or Tallahassee Big Bend Community. (Please create
essay in a word document. ( This is their mission statement to further support what they do-Our mission is to end homelessness in the Big Bend through leadership, education, advocacy, and the provision of quality services. We are dedicated to providing the vital services necessary to prevent and end people’s experience of homelessness: Emergency shelter, Permanent and permanent supportive housing, Homeless prevention and rapid rehousing. We compassionately and effectively meet the needs of our community’s most vulnerable: Veterans, People with disabilities and long histories of homelessness, Families with minor children) Scholarship Essay Examples
Scholarship Essay 2022
Tallahassee Big Bend Community is characterized by the physical location that the members of the community occupy in Tallahassee, Florida. Like other communities, this community faces its unique blend of public health problems to include alcohol related harms, food safety, healthcare-associated infections, heart disease and stroke, nutrition and obesity, prescription drug overdose, and tobacco use (D’Aoust & Rossiter, 2022). While these public health problems are significant and have received much attention towards prevention and intervention, one significant public health issue that is typically understated is homelessness. Although there is some effort to address homelessness within the community, the efforts are not comprehensive and lack follow up support so that it is not uncommon for repeat homelessness such that 21% of persons struggle with homelessness within six months of receiving the initial support and 33% are homeless again within two years. That is not to say that the present efforts are not working since the number of first time homeless persons in the community reduced by 486 from 1,869 in 2019 to 1,383 in 2020. Rather, the efforts are inadequate as there are people who become homeless for the first time and those who had received help become homeless again (Casey, 2021).
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The Big Bend Homeless Coalition reports 38% of homeless persons are children while 62% are adults. 21% are chronically homeless, 22% are veterans, and 47% have one or more disabling conditions with the most common being physical disability. The coalition further indicates that between 3,000 and 4,000 children and adults are expected to experience what it means to be without a home in the next one year. The organization has analyzed the problem and identified three main causes of homelessness in the community. Firstly, housing related issues, such as affordability, eviction, foreclosure, and end of temporary housing arrangement. Secondly, financial reasons to include inadequate income, underemployment and unemployment. Finally, lack of needed treatment and services to include health problems, abuse, physical disabilities, divorce, separation, and substance abuse (Big Bend Homeless Coalition, n.d.).
Having understood that homelessness is a chronic public health problem in Big Bend community, and having developed an awareness of the three major causes of homelessness as presented by Big Bend Homeless Coalition, I feel that I can make a personal contribution towards addressing the issue, particularly among the veterans in the community. My efforts would be personally targeted at the second cause with a focus on addressing the financial causes of homelessness, particularly inadequate income, unemployment and underemployment. There is a common theme that the majority of veterans are either homeless or at risk of homelessness because they suffer from systematic effects of poverty. The skills that veterans learned in combat do not translate well to jobs in the community. Many of them were very good at their duties in the military and had extensive combat experience, but this has little relevance to the civilian world. In addition, they lack strong professional networks and required professional licenses and certifications, and face a community culture that treats them as charity cases. Besides that, many of those enlisted in the military are assigned points of focus and tasks that may not necessarily match their career objectives, unlike students who choose majors with clear career objectives. Furthermore, most veterans lack college degrees, and this pushes them towards low-skilled jobs that do not offer adequate financial security (Ainspan & Saboe, 2021).
Given this awareness, I would solicit for community resources to be dedicated towards developing government legislation and policies that allow veterans to acquire certifications and licenses reflecting the skills they acquired in military service and allowing them to hold civilian jobs. The government has put allow of resources and money into training these veterans in the military, but the veterans do not have any credit towards a professional degree so that they end up without jobs or with lower wage jobs for which they are vastly overqualified. The advocacy efforts would create partnerships between military training institutions and civilian training institutions to allow military personnel to earn credit towards college degrees for their military training and work. In addition, the advocacy efforts would create supportive legislation and policies that would allow the civilians who acquired deep knowledge and specialized techniques to have access to arbitrated licensing and credentialing processes. For instance, veterans who acted as medics in the military and acquired deep knowledge and specialized emergency response techniques would be allowed to have access to a shorter credentialing and licensing process to become physician assistants (Ainspan & Saboe, 2021). In this respect, I would engage in advocacy efforts to create favorable policies that allow veterans to translate their military experience, knowledge and skills into qualifications for civilian jobs thereby allowing them to seek and gain well-paying civilian jobs that improve their financial independence and address homelessness within the population.
References
Ainspan, N. D., & Saboe, K. N. (Eds.) (2021). Military Veteran Employment: A Guide for the Data-driven Leader. Oxford University Press.
Big Bend Homeless Coalition (n.d.). Homelessness in Our Community. http://www.bigbendhc.org/homelessness.htm
Casey, M. (2021, March 25). Big Bend Continuum of Care gives City Commissioners update on homelessness metrics in the community. https://www.wctv.tv/2021/03/24/big-bend-continuum-of-care-gives-city-commissioners-update-on-homelessness-metrics-in-the-community/
D’Aoust, F., & Rossiter, A. G. (2022). Caring for Veterans and Their Families: A Guide for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals. Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC. Scholarship Essay Examples