[00:02.56]2006

[00:06.22]The homeless make up a growing percentage

[00:08.51]of America's population.

[00:10.53](1)Indeed homelessness has reached such proportions

[00:13.65]that local governments can't possibly (2)cope.

[00:16.93]To help homeless people (3)toward independence,

[00:19.85]the federal government must support job training programs,

[00:23.68](4)raise the minimum wage,

[00:25.60]and fund more low-cost housing.

[00:28.12](5)Not everyone agrees on the number of Americans

[00:30.88]who are homeless.

[00:32.44]Estimates (6)range anywhere from 600,000 to 3 million.

[00:37.30](7)Although the figure may vary,

[00:38.86]analysts do agree on another matter:

[00:42.03]that the number of the homeless is (8)increasing.

[00:45.22]One of the federal government’s studies

[00:47.33](9)predicts that the number of the homeless

[00:49.35]will reach nearly 19 million

[00:51.08]by the end of this decade.

[00:53.54]Finding ways to (10)assist this growing homeless population

[00:56.67]has become increasingly difficult.

[00:59.29](11)Even when homeless individuals manage to

[01:01.51]find a (12)shelter that will give them three meals a day

[01:04.53]and a place to sleep at night,

[01:06.95]a good number still spend the bulk of

[01:09.07]each day (13)wandering the street.

[01:11.19]Part of the problem is that many homeless adults

[01:14.32]are addicted to alcohol or drugs.

[01:17.04]And a significant number of the homeless

[01:19.73]have serious mental disorders.

[01:22.15]Many others, (14)while not addicted or mentally ill,

[01:25.18]simply lack the everyday (15)survival skills

[01:27.80]needed to turn their lives (16)around.

[01:30.42]Boston Globe reporter Chris Reidy

[01:32.64]notes that the situation will improve only

[01:35.15]when there are (17)comprehensive programs

[01:37.58]that address the many needs of the homeless.

[01:40.40](18)As Edward Zlotkowski,

[01:42.01]director of community service at Bentley College

[01:44.74]in Massachusetts, (19)puts it,

[01:46.75]"There has to be (20)coordination of programs.

[01:49.27]What’s needed is a package deal."