7A- Testing the Hypothesis Part 1

Homelessness in Gainesville

• Opportunity
• There seems to be an increasing number of people going homeless in Gainesville that can range from different reasons going from losing their jobs to some not being able to pay their bills on time.
• Who: Homeless people in Gainesville
• What: Being victims of losing there home/job.
• Why: People being laid off from work and not being able to pay their bills.
• Testing the who: Not just people in Gainesville but other people in America as well and in other parts of the world. It is also not limited to people who had jobs it could also be people who dropped out of school or people who never obtained a job to begin with due to personal issues (ex. immigrants who just came here or no where that is hiring currently).
• Testing the what: There are times that when a company ends up in a tight situation where it ends up having to let go some or even sometimes all of its employees. Although this is just one reasons on why there is an increase of homeless people, while this may be the most common reason ending up in this situation can also be the cause of poor financial choices, having a job but not making enough to pay for bills, or dropping out of school and resulting in any of the previously mentioned factors.
• Testing the why: Why so many people are nowadays ending up homeless is something that probably has to many answers to. When people lose their job they could sometimes end up in a dark place and are unable to obtain a job and sometimes that goes the same for people who lose their job actually try to get back on their feet but still can't obtain one. There are solutions such as homeless shelters however its not a permanent solution. I believe that the opportunity found in this issue could benefit current and future homeless people for the better and could prevent people from becoming a victim.
• Interview #1:
• In this first interview, I found that this person was rather generous (I won't say their name to protect their identity) because sometimes when he is driving in his car, if he has change with him gives it to any to somebody that look as if they need help, meaning people with signs that are asking for help or prayer messages. He feels that it must be really tough for them being on the verge of living out on the streets and that however they got to this point no one should have to go through this. They know about homeless shelters an he feels that the community could be doing something more to help those in need.
• Interview #2:
• For this interview, this person had some more insight on the matter saying that it seems like every time she goes out to shop she notices someone with a cardboard sign, but she doesn't know if the people she sees are homeless or not she feels it would be rude to ask. She says that aside from shelters perhaps there can be a program or some sort whose mission it is to help the poor get back on their feet. Some of the things that they can do is help those people who are struggling to help them get an available job that meets their skill sets. I found this idea rather interesting so I made a note about it.
• Interview #3:
• In this interview, I decided to go with someone who was much older than your typical university adult to talk with them on the matter to see if I can get a more experienced point of view on the matter. This person did agree that there do seem to be any increase to poor people while he can't really determine if those people are homeless or not like the previous interview. A suggestion he said perhaps there could be more shelters opened if the ones that are already available become filled up or perhaps make charities specifically to help these people.
• Interview #4:
• For this interview, I decided to ask some people around the university to see what their thoughts are on this topic. This one male student I spoke with said the homeless situation seems to be getting worse just by looking around and that any person could end up like this depending on the conditions. Although this student told me that this subject is something that wasn't that he thought of much but he did suggest we could do something more.
• Interview # 5:
• This one person I interviewed had told something interesting regarding a poor person. See when she was at home there came a knock on her door and there was a person who was asking for work because he has kid who he has to take care of along with clothes need to be washed and that they were living near a dumpster. Now she didn't know if the person she was speaking to was in any real problems or not but she did see that the man's main mode of transportation was a bicycle. The women I interviewed unfortunately told the man she didn't have any work to be done and with that man left. So she told me that something must be done otherwise there will be more people like that.
• What did I learn now after these interviews? 
• I learned that this subject was known some interviewees with more knowledge on it then others, but they each have some idea on it. Interviewee #2 had a rather interesting idea on a program that helps homeless people get jobs. Maybe they were putting some thought on this matter, I not sure if this idea exists or not, but creating a new program could be expensive and volunteers or workers will be needed,
• For interviewee # 4 they mainly suggested to just make more of what is already being done. Its not a bad idea I just feel as if it is merely delaying the problem a not solving it. That would of course make it an opportunity for future generations if delayed enough that it can't be solved when implemented. One thing that the interviewees said in each of their interviews is the existence of homeless shelters so at the very least it could be a back up plan.
• I think that even though there are some people who know more about the issue of homeless people than others I feel that it is not thought of very often which could be the reason why I kept on getting the same answers and not that many new ideas. By same answers I mean by the mentioning of homeless shelters and that something more could be done.
• Something that sort of surprised me is that the people I interview didn't have much thought on this subject although some thought about more than the other interviewees it is not enough. I believe that with very few ideas not much thinking is put into this matter despite the fact that just about anyone can end up in this situation depending on certain conditions and the person. However I am certain that there are people in the world who made it their mission to solve this problem and I might meet them to gain ideas for new opportunities for this subject.