1. SISTERS OF ST. CHARLES BORROMEO,
WESTERN PROVINCE, BANGALORE.
INNOVATION IN S.C.B. MISSION
PRESENTED BY SR. JANET D’SOUZA
(Provincial Superior)

2. The number of homeless people
worldwide has grown steadily in
recent years. In some Third World
nations such as Nigeria, and South
Africa, homelessness is rampant,
with millions of children living
and working on the streets]
Homelessness has become a
problem in the countries of China,
India, Thailand, Indonesia, and
the Philippines despite their
growing prosperity, mainly due to
migrant workers who have trouble
finding permanent homes.

3. A vagrant or a
vagabond is a
person, often in
poverty, who
wanders from
place to place
without a home or
regular
employment or
income. Other
synonyms include
"tramp", "hobo",
"schnorrer".

4. The "unsheltered" are that segment of a homeless
community who do not have ordinary lawful
access to buildings in which to sleep. Such
persons frequently prefer the term "houseless" to
the term "homeless". Others may use the term
street people which does not fully encompass all
unsheltered in that many such persons do not
spend their time on urban "street" environments,
and to the contrary shun such locales and prefer
to convert unoccupied buildings, or to inhabit
mountains or, more often, lowland meadows,
creeks and beaches.

5. A disability may be physical, cognitive,
mental, sensory, emotional,
developmental or some combination of
these. A disability may be present from
birth, or occur during a person's
lifetime.
Disabilities is an umbrella term,
covering impairments, activity
limitations, and participation
restrictions. An impairment is a problem
in body function or structure; an activity
limitation is a difficulty encountered by
an individual in executing a task or
action; while a participation restriction
is a problem experienced by an
individual in involvement in life
situations. Thus disability is a complex
phenomenon, reflecting an interaction
between features of a person’s body
and features of the society in which he
or she lives.

6. An individual may also qualify as disabled if he/she has
had an impairment in the past or is seen as disabled
based on a personal or group standard or norm. Such
impairments may include physical, sensory, and
cognitive or developmental disabilities. Mental
disorders (also known as psychiatric or psychosocial
disability) and various types of chronic disease may
also qualify as disabilities.

7. Homeless people are more likely to suffer
injuries and medical problems from their
lifestyle on the street, which includes poor
nutrition, exposure to the severe elements
of weather, and a higher exposure to
violence (robberies, beatings, and so on).
Yet at the same time, they have little access
to public medical services or clinics.

8. The conditions affecting homeless people are
somewhat specialized and have opened a new
area of medicine tailored to this population. Skin
conditions, including Scabies, are common
because homeless people are exposed to extreme
cold in the winter and they have little access to
bathing facilities. They have problems caring for
their feet and have more severe dental problems
than the general population.[Diabetes, especially
untreated, is widespread in the homeless
population.

9. Communicable diseases are of great concern,
especially tuberculosis, which spreads more easily
in crowded homeless shelters in high density urban
settings.
There has been an ongoing concern and studies
about the health and wellness of the older homeless
population, typically ages fifty to sixty four years of
age, and even older, as to whether they are
significantly more sickly than their younger
counterparts and if they are under-served.

10. Homeless persons often find it difficult to
document their date of birth or their address.
Because homeless people usually have no place to
store possessions, they often lose their belongings,
including their identification and other documents,
or find them destroyed by police or others. Without
a photo ID, homeless persons cannot get a job or
access many social services. They can be denied
access to even the most basic assistance: clothing
closets, food pantries, certain public benefits, and
in some cases, emergency shelters.
Obtaining replacement identification is difficult.
Without an address, birth certificates cannot be
mailed. Fees may be cost-prohibitive for
impoverished persons. And some states will not
issue birth certificates unless the person has photo
identification.