Homelessness
There are numerous and various reasons of this problem: some people cannot afford to rent or purchase any apartment simply due to the inability to apply for a job and have a stable income. Others do not own home due to mental illnesses, disability or drug addiction. It means that they are not able to make any money; thus, they cannot afford any real estate for rent or purchase. Immigrants and former prisoners also frequently face homelessness because they fail to find a job; that is why they appear to be in a risky group.Unfortunately, one of the big issues about homeless people is prejudice. The problem is complex to solve because there are numerous biases about homelessness. The majority of people often judge the homeless and do not see real reasons fo that in the United States. The society tends to blame homeless individuals for any issues. For instance, Americans frequently believe that homeless people do not have any home because they are lazy, simply do not want to work, or they are very picky when it comes to job. This essay offers a campaign which will show the real causes of homelessness that must be emphasized in the modern society. In addition, the paper offers not only potential solutions for groups of people, but also key actions for each individual. Moreover, there are expected objectives and desired outcomes are discussed. The campaign owns a plan for a publicity issues in order to raise awareness of population about the causes of homelessness as well as offer possible solutions to reduce the issue. Different groups of people as well as each individual should be involved in fighting homelessness because only teamwork where one for all and all for one will allow changing the current situation. The major aim of this campaign is not to fight homelessness with direct actions, but pay attention to the homelessness among Americans which will help to raise awareness of the problem. Research was conducted by the synopsis writing service.
Summary of the Problem
When it comes to the awareness of homelessness as a problem, the majority of people are sure they are aware of the issue and understand its real roots. However, due to the lack of information about homelessness in newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet, the myth that homeless people are lazy or all of them are past prisoners is widespread. Thus, the major problem related to homelessness is that the society refuses to help homeless people as almost everyone believes they happened to be homeless by their own faults.
The problem can be solved step-by-step by means of organizing a public campaign that will be directed not only to politicians, business people but also each and every individual. The motto of the campaign is “All for one and one for all” as it is aimed to bring a message to each and every person about real roots of homelessness. Even though every day people meet homeless individuals on their way, there is a lack of information about the latter (Thompson, 2012). This campaign can be called media campaign and social-media campaign as it mostly uses mass media and Internet to deliver its message to the society. Understanding real causes of the social issue will motivate Americans to provide greater support to homeless people.
Potential Solutions
There are three potential solutions for the campaign to reach the wide audience and deliver the required message. First, people will be informed about the issues through publications in mass media and on the Internet. It is critically important to mention that nobody is interested in just another series of articles about homeless people; that is why the campaign requires a creative approach. The articles that will be placed in the mass media have to stick to the certain story of the homeless people. One of the plots for the articles is a classical interview with a homeless person. This type of article will perfectly demonstrate why this person happened to be homeless and what his life looks like.
The second solution for the campaign is involving social media. Needless to mention, nowadays Facebook is one of the most popular social networks in the world if not the most popular one. Millions of posts, photos, and videos are being read, viewed, watched, and uploaded every day; that is why this campaign cannot miss a chance to deliver the main message via Facebook. Again, it is very important to find a new approach in journalism and promotion to deliver a touching story about homeless people. As well as in mass media, one could tell a story about some homeless. The idea for sharing on Facebook is to take a homeless person and provide him wit humble home and simple job – to prove he is not lazy and he is willing to work. Such object lesson is an excellent tool to message our society that homeless people are not lazy and the majority of them are not guilty they came to be homeless.
The third solution is also tied up with social networks, but it will be implemented in video format. YouTube is the most popular video hosting website in the world, and video is one of the most preferable formats of contents on the Internet (Sutherland, 2016). In addition, social experiments are one edge of glory – people like experience as they are captivated by interesting facts and different lives. In order to organize this experiment and share it on YouTube, a person has to live a week as a homeless and show all the obstacles, problems and, most importantly, prejudices about homelessness.
Key Actions for Groups and Individuals
The publicity campaign requires connecting not only with people in general, but also with some particular groups and individuals. First, it is necessary to reach some charitable groups, which support homeless people and ask them to share the provided content. In addition, these individuals can provide some inside information about the issue of homelessness and its real causes and problems. Besides, these groups can also share real-life stories about homelessness that could be used in advertisements. In addition, they might provide contact details of these individuals. “Like” and “Share” buttons are the key actions for individuals in these campaign, and the measure is the number of views. The major aim on this stage is to cover as many individuals (who are already involved in the problem) as possible and encourage other people to understand the real problems and roots of homelessness.
Second, it is necessary to connect with homeless people and those who used to live on the street but managed to deal with the grief. Communication with these people will bring understanding of their real needs, causes of the problem, and possible solutions. Their stories can be used in publications and advertisements to make readers understand that everybody can face this issue and nobody is safe from this.
The last but not least action is connecting with celebrities: actors, singers, YouTube celebrities, and opinion leaders. These individuals will help to make this campaign more noticeable as well as will encourage ordinary people to pay more attention to the problems of homeless people, understand the roots of the issue, and thus be more sensitive towards the homeless. As a result, the society will realize that homelessness is caused not only by laziness.
Objectives (Desired Outcomes of Each Action)
When it comes to the objectives of the campaign, its main aim is to cover as many people as possible. In addition, the campaign is aimed to delivering the message to people who often stumble upon homeless people being not aware of their real problems. As for the desired outcomes of each action, the interviews presented in the media are directed at getting sympathy and help for the concrete homeless. According to Curan (2002), one of the major powers in the world is mass media – millions of people read, percept and think about the information published. That is why it is expected the articles will draw attention of many individuals and thus encourage them to feel sympathy and act to help homeless people.
As for the desired outcome of organizing a group on Facebook, it is expected to prove that a homeless person can work and does want to work if he has a place to sleep, eat and, feel safe. As Facebook is one of the most popular social networks in the world, it is expected to cover dozen thousands of people in the USA.
The desired outcome of the social experiment on YouTube is to reach the maximum possible views. The professional team is required (a screenwriter, a photographer, a storyteller) to make and cut the viral video which will captivate millions of views not only in the USA, but all over the world. The one has to show that every day a struggle for homeless people.
Expected Objective for the Immediate Future and 10 Years from Now
As for the expected objective for the immediate future, this campaign is aimed at covering as many people as possible who are not aware of the real problems and roots of homelessness. Realizing and paying attention to the problem, maximum shares and likes, discussions in the society and communication on the problem are primary goals expected to be reached during the campaign. The one can be compared with marketing: to promote a product, one should present it.
After presentation, the goal for 10 years and further is to keep a finger on the pulse and not forgetting to talk about the problems of homelessness in mass media and on the Internet. The more there is coverage, the more actions will be implemented. The expected outcome for a decade is to unite as many people as possible in the United States to help the homeless and minimize their number in the country humanely and by means of providing them safety, food and decent jobs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, each individual has to pay attention to such critically important problem as homelessness. The complex and up-to-date approach to the campaign for fighting homelessness will help to succeed as it brings key decisions for anyone in our society. It is very important not only to help homeless people, but also explain our society why homeless people happened to be homeless, how their usual life goes, and how one can help them. It is important to mention that philanthropists, businessmen, politicians, and other successful people have much more chances to impact the decisions related to the problem and find out possible solutions. That is why it is a primary goal to deliver a message about the problem for these groups of people.
The offered campaign will make the society feel empathy for homeless people. One of the most complex issues in the world is understanding as people stumble upon misunderstanding day by day. If a person realizes roots of the problem, if one feels empathy and understands key actions to solve this problem, any issue can be resolved. Nowadays, some people ignore the sad issue of homelessness even though it is present anywhere on the planet. Unfortunately, people still believe that homeless occurs mostly because of laziness. This campaign is aimed at raising awareness of intended audiences about the problem as well as opening their hearts for people without their own home. The major aim of the campaign is to deliver the right message – this mission can be compared to delivering a new product on the market. It should be packed, presented showing its benefits, and promoted in a proper way.
It is hard to neglect today opinion-markers and publicity that play a big role in our life. Thus, cooperation with YouTube celebrities, actors, singers, and other famous people will make the campaign noticeable in newspapers, magazines, and social media. It will help to connect different groups of people and, most importantly, it will demonstrate that celebrities do understand the real roots of homelessness. Up-to-date methods of delivering information, careful selection of celebrities, key actions to message all social groups about such problem as homelessness will definitely make the campaign informative, effective thus bringing positive results.
References
Curran, J. (2002). Media and power (1st ed.). London: Routledge.
Secretary, H. O. (2007, February 28). Strategic action plan on homelessness. Retrieved from https://www.hhs.gov/programs/social-services/homelessness/research/strategic-action-plan-on-homelessness/index.html?language=es
Sutherland, A. (2016). YouTube (1st ed.). London: Hachette Children's Group.
Thompson, T. (2012). Homelessness (1st ed.). Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
