Good morning. The discussion topic for today's seminar is "Homelessness in America. " In the United States, homelessness has 1during the last decade. Estimates of the number of Americans currently without 2vary wildly. Advocacy groups like the National Coalition for the Homeless say that 3Americans live on the streets or in emergency and temporary shelters. The US Department concerned puts the figure at 4. Yet both bureaucrats and advocates agree on one point, that is, the face of homelessness 5in the past 10 years, as more and more low-income housing is mowed down 6. Some 20 years ago, the typical "street person" was a white male who suffered from a mental illness or 7. Today's homeless, however, are a more eclectic group. 8of the homeless today are Black, mostly 9. More than half of them have never been homeless before. In many cases, they have been evicted from their homes, or the 10in which they lived was demolished or burned down. About 60 percent of all homeless people live on 11with an average monthly income of 450 dollars. About 20 percent are mentally ill. All sorts of people have been pushed out of 12because of the critical shortage of affordable places to live. As a result, homelessness has climbed to the top of the 13of social concerns. But there is a great gap between concern and active involvement 14this growing problem. For many people, the inaction is 15, not indifference. The fact is that there are many ways in which individuals can 16. Yet for those people 17, one of the first steps is to get to know the homeless and understand how they 18. Many advocates believe that it is important for 19to get to know and reach out to the homeless and 20.