Thankfully, I’ve never had to live in a homeless camp. I can truthfully say I never visited one. In fact, I’ve never been homeless.

I often think of the people who do live in those facilities.

Are they the homeless veterans you often hear about? Are they mentally ill individuals who can’t cope with society? Are they alcoholics or drug addicts tossed out of traditional families?

Or are they individuals who can’t afford a roof over their head because of high living costs — including rent and utilities — coupled with low wages?

You don’t have to be an economics major to realize the homeless problem is only going to get worse.

Often individuals put pleas on Facebook about being desperate to find a rental unit they can afford. Sometimes individuals appeal for food or gas money, which indicates they could be close to being without proper shelter.

The Peaceful Knights, an organization founded by Aggie Schoenberger, who is amazingly compassionate, provides temporary shelter in Lehighton to the homeless. There are locations that offer sleeping quarters to homeless individuals, especially during life-threatening weather conditions.

The problem of homelessness isn’t just a local matter. It’s a nationwide issue. And like in Carbon County, periodically homeless camps are forced to disband because of problems associated with them. Drug abuse, burglaries, harassment of nearby residents, extreme littering. They’re all complaints that have been raised with homeless camps.

When raided, these encampments simply move to another location.

There are individuals who likely prefer to be living off the grid.

On the other hand, there are other factors making the homelessness a more concerning and heartbreaking problem.

Unskilled workers too often can land only minimum wage jobs that don’t pay enough to afford even minimum necessities such as groceries, rent, heat, vehicle expenses including insurance, medical care, clothing, etc.

Corporations, flippers and others are buying any available homes, and because of demand, are charging ridiculously high rents or converting them to Airbnb units. Individuals who seek to buy a house often find themselves outbid by these corporations.

Decades ago, there was an effort by government officials to help lower income people by constructed subsidized housing units. This included housing units for low-income families as well as apartment buildings designated specifically for senior citizens and physically disabled individuals. Fewer such units appear to be built.

As our nation’s deficit continues to rise, there’s less chance for more such units in the near future. Add threatened cuts to other government programs and its obvious people won’t be able to afford to pay over $5 for heating oil, $4.50 a gallon for gas for their cars and grocery prices that are more than triple what some were just 15 years ago.

The homeless population will likely grow. Frankly, so will crime.

Not all the homeless are in camps in the woods. Some homeless live in their cars. Some move among relatives.

School officials will attest to this, noting that probably every public school in the area has students who live in homeless situations.

When someone issues a plea for help on social media, too often the responses are insulting.

What’s the answer to the homeless problem?

Raising the minimum wage might be a start.

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. Twenty-two states still have that as their minimum. That amount to $290 net for a 40-hour week. Take away 6.2% Social Security tax, nearly 3% in state income tax and local taxes, the amount taken home is much less. Generally, if you’re making minimum wage, you’re working less than 40 hours in a week so the employer isn’t required to provide certain benefits.

The math indicates that for such a wage one can’t afford $1,000 or more in rent plus other essentials, especially when children are involved. Of course there are government programs that help, but poverty is real and is a concurrent factor with the homeless problem.

I was raised by my grandparents, who were very poor. We were fortunate that despite physical impairments and little money, they always found low-priced houses for rent so that we were never homeless.

If they were raising me today, I believe we would be in a more dire situation.

Not one political ad that I’ve seen has addressed homelessness, or even poverty. Instead, one ad says their opponent didn’t pay his taxes, while the other candidate says it’s a lie.

One candidate says the opponent made millions in private investments, but the other says they are for the people without saying what the platform is. Who can you believe?

How can people make an educated choice in voting when ads are nothing but accusations, lies and mudslinging?

Certainly the homeless don’t care about elections because obviously politicians don’t care about them or the growing problem.