The Meaning of Home

In my opinion I strongly believe that everyone should have a home. Everybody should get to have a place to call home, a place to argue with your sister, a place where you can be you. People without a home have no shelter from the outside where they don't have to worry about hypothermia or getting hit with hail on a stormy night. Or coming back to your house but there's someone else living there with the big SOLD sign on what used to be your front lawn. How would you feel if you had no one to share your deepest darkest secrets with or get help to curl your hair. How are you supposed to warm up after that cold winter day with a strong cup of peppermint tea on the chair while you watch a show or even read a book? How about if all of your hygiene was taken with the blink of an eye, no way to do laundry or shower. How would you react if you had to go without a shower, it's bad enough that if I haven't put on deodorant because I just woke up five minutes ago there is so much complaining " you stink what did you do? Did you forget to shower? OMG get away from me RIGHT NOW.'’ If you didn't have a home that was what you would experience, what some people have to endure. They don't get the necessity of family or hygiene or warmth or shelter. They don't get to snuggle up with a blanket after a cold autumn day. Have you ever had to think about " oh it looks like rain I better find shelter “ probably not because you have a house for your cover from the rain, wind, hail and snow. Well the people that are houseless have to think that they don't have a house to protect themselves so what do they do in those times? Have you ever been told not to go under trees during a thunderstorm? Well some of the many people without a house have to go under trees to get shelter, if they're lucky then they can go into an overhang. One time I was going on a jog with my mom and it started to rain, we had to sit it out under a tree, it was absolutely horrid. They may not have shelter every time this happens - which is a lot in Alberta - so they might have to just go through the storm like when you forget your umbrella and raincoat on a rainy day. Shelter has always been essential and continues to be important so why should houseless people have no shelter, - even if my sister shares the shelter with me ( VERY poorly "shares" it ). In my opinion they shouldn't have to live like this without shelter or warmth of any form, it's simply not fair for them to have to work through these situations that they are placed in when they become houseless. In Alberta there is a long period of our year taken up by snow and slush and it's on those days where a nice piping hot tea or hot chocolate hits different in you warm house, so what about the people who are houseless wheres there warmth and comfort or even where is the ability to go to sleep in your warm cosy bed without a care in the world? For some reason I have always remembered that when me and my sister were younger we used to have " sleepovers", and one night she came into my room and we had a "sleepover". All I remember is waking up in the middle of the night shivering cold with no blankets - my sister stole all of the blankets if you can't tell - and that was in a heated house with warm PJs. Well I can tell you right now that the part of the population that is houseless doesn't get those moments like the rest of us, they just get the cold. They don't get to snuggle up with a book on their couches after a long day, they have to endure the harsh wintry cold. Most schools I have been to have a "breaking point" where they let the kids stay in for recess from the cold, so where is that "breaking point" for the houseless people? The answer is that they don't get one, if they get to go inside it's once in a blue moon if ever. How would you feel if every winter you were outside the entire time? Nobody deserves that fate. Still many people continue to face the unbearable cold. Not only do they have to confront the cold but they also have to do it all without hygiene, it's horrible what the houseless people have to endure. For the population that is without a house they don't get to brush their teeth when they wake up in the morning. They don't get the essentials of getting to take a long hot shower to wash away the troubles of your life, even if my SISTER uses up all of the hot water. They can't wash your hands before you eat with that certain lemony soap that we always use. They have to withstand themselves without even having a toilet to go to when they must use the bathroom. Why should they not get these vital parts of everyday life? Everybody knows that public schools have like a tiny thin one ply toilet paper right? At least that is better than nothing. That is the nothing the houseless people have. Everyone deserves the right to have good hygiene. Cleanliness is key to a healthy living right? So why should houseless people not get to live a healthy living? Everyone has the right to live, play, and work, what about them? They deserve to have a house and its advantages, especially because they have had to work for it, so they deserve it. In the end I firmly believe that everyone deserves a house. I believe this because well, everyone should be sheltered anywhere in the world. Unfortunately not everyone gets shelter let alone warmth or hygiene which are all key factors to living a long and healthy life ( still you don't NEED to research and read all about a healthy living, COUGH COUGH DAD ). Many people don't get to go home after a long day and relax on the couch or curl up on the recliner chair that's been in your house forever, no, all they get is freezing cold, hard, concrete ground. Where is there shoulder to cry on? Where is there family to support them and lift them up like you are the flier in cheer? They don't get this essential part of your life. Tell me how is that fair? It isn't. In conclusion everyone deserves a home where they can work, grow, argue, and play their life away, that's why everyone deserves a home.