Homeless and Their Children

David F. Wiley English-111-OFA Summary and Response premiere Draft Jonathon Kozol, the writer of Illiterate America in 1985, takes time to guide Illiteracy and p everyplacety in America and he wrote a original in 1988 c all(a) in alled The Homeless and Their Children where He told a story of a muliebrity and her four children called Joanne (Kozol, 1985). Jonathan spent a lot of time to get to have intercourse Rachel and her children who lived in a dispossessed hotel in New York called the Martinique, which was located at Sixth Avenue and Thirty Second Street. This hotel was known to be the largest hotel for the homeless people in New York.Jonathan Kozol was enlightening the facts that there were so some(prenominal) homeless and illiterate people in America, expectant the facts that at least one third of Ameri mass citizens were affected. With Joannes analphabetism she couldnt enjoin her mail, didnt know if it was important or if it was about her children and this made her r eal s reverenced non knowing if she did the right thing for her children. Martinique Hotel is home to over 400 hundred families and 1200 children. The hotel itself is in a very dilapidated condition, and its like living in the slum.The conditions in the hotel were horrible, from walls that are were crumbling covered in lead based paint, to plumbing issues in the bathroom that has made rough sewage stand in pools on the floor, This was a terrible line for Joanne and her children. They had 4 beds set up in one room that were on unprotected bed frames, which made a very unsafe for the children to residuum on. Joanne had a radiator that is was spewing hot steam which was located at eye level to some of the children. The crib for her youngest child who is only just months old was fall apart this made Joanne worried for his safety.There were green mold looking smudges all over the walls from leaking plumbing from the rooms above hers. The lighting in the flat is bright fluorescent li ghts that made it very hard on their eyes. The video set they have was borrowed and didnt even really work at all and the antenna for the television set is a wire come on hanger. Joanne complained to the management of the Martinique Hotel and never received any help at all on any of the unbelievable problems she is faced with on a periodical basis in her apartment that she has had to live in with her four children. Her oldest hild whom is 7 years old had been to the hospital a couple of weeks previously because of the invigorated tasting lead based paint on the walls. Kids will be kids he had eaten some of the paint and got sick. The sad part that Joanne couldnt glance over her mail so she didnt realize in a multitude of mail that was piling up, one of the mail was from the medicos slip telling her to bring the child back for follow up to care on his lead poisoning issue. Joanne didnt read the mail as she couldnt, so she didnt take her son for the follow up doctors appoint ments that he needed.This is sad to see in this generation that we throw in the towel our American Citizens to fall as victims to homeless and illiteracy and living in devastating conditions. Our government needs to step up to investigate the problems. This member made me sick to my stomach. The more I read this article the angrier I became. This stupefys me wonder how America the richest and highest technology advanced nation in the conception can just discard and leave the homeless un-attended as if they tiret exist. I have always had a soft gist for these people in need. This article has just made me more kind-hearted to the cause of helping those in need.It simply breaks my heart to know that we go by billions of dollars sending money and food all over the world to help all these other countries with their homeless and starving problem, but we arent shutdown to solving solve the same problem in our own country. In the article it talked mentions about the tremendous amou nt of rent she pays at the hotel like fifteen hundred dollars a month and it enrages me so much I can hardly contain myself while typewrite this. We as a nation have to make this cause of homelessness and illiteracy of our citizens a top priority.There is so much (me me me) of selfishness in our society that I am afraid this is something that will always be pushed as abase priority. Our leaders in this country give fine-looking speeches on big issues just so they can get into the office and once they make it to office they forget what they promised to the public they serve. I feel we as individuals can make a difference in life by not just thinking about ourselves only, but by doing the right things by, giving love, care and help to our fellow citizens in need. Bibliography Kozol, J. (1985). Illiterate America. Garden City, NY bowman Press/Doubleday. Words 864