A HERO TO FEW, A homeless TO MANY

A HERO TO FEW, A homeless TO MANY

There are 7,349 billion people worldwide. 321,216,397 out of that 7,349 billion population are Americans and 643,000 out of that 321,216,397 American population are homeless (source?... check this out for info, the .2% seems off...http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/the-state-of-homelessness-in-america-2015). If you take the time to do the math that means that 0.2% of that American population is homeless, that may not seem like much of a percentage on a scale of 100% but, believe it or not that “small” percentage is a worldwide growing issue.
-I like where you are going with these stats to build your context
-I'd suggest narrowing further to the California population stats since that is the focus of the article 

Out of that 0.2% I was fortunate to interview one person who may embody the homeless mental image we have engraved in our head but in reality is someone as “normal” as you and me and he goes by the name of John Albert Rogers.
-consider on what you mean by "images engraved in our head" prior to introducing John?  That would be a good start  to discussing negative stereotypes and representations of the homeless that influence our minds to pain images of what is  "normal" and not.  you can then discuss where these ideas come from and how they stick around.   

John, one of the many reasons we have the American dream (mention of the dream came out of no where- you mean American freedom or...?) is a brother, son and Vietnam Veteran. "A hero to few and a homeless to many."

John’s story is different and yet similar to many Veterans because he like many other Veterans suffers from PTSD (Post traumatic stress disorder). I asked myself why would he enlist himself into a war and he shared his unfortunate reason with me. As a child John grew up with a low income family and was practically raised by his older brother who was later deployed to war and didn’t return alive and as a tribute to his brother John volunteered himself into the Vietnam War in hopes of following his Hero’s footsteps. After the war nothing was the same yet John doesn’t view that part of his life with regret but rather with honor.

I asked John why he lived the way he was living and his response was spiritual and view changing. Truth be told, John did not want to live a life where he felt mistreated due to his PTSD so he chose a path of faith.

John, John, John… He broke my heart as he told me his story but not because I felt pity at any point, only simply because he lifted my spirit when he told me that all he wanted was to be acknowledged as an existing factor in society.  

The DAMN Ignorance that drives our population is stereotyping and because of this stereotyping John like many others isn’t looked at twice and let’s face it, John is one of the persons many of us refuse to walk near or by, or even refuse to say hello too.
-moments like this will make more sense to the reader with information on negative stereotypes discussed earlier
-also, consider what you want the point of your article to be-  how will your readers react to acknowledgement of our "damn ignorance" 
- can you discuss this:  to what extent are we influenced by stereotypes? 

John is one of the many people in the homeless community. So please, not for my sake of me or you, but for the sake of not going back to racial or gender inequality acknowledge those around you because they form a part of OUR community.
-this connection to equality is an interesting one
-I can see this being something you discuss more and develop- to make that connection to human equality and discrimination is quite a point 

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mahatma Gandhi

-it seems like the focus/position of your paper is to call attention to the negative stereotypes and representations of the homeless and how that affects our ability to feel and interact with the homeless and also support them.  For you John is an example of someone who challenges the stereotypes (consider what stereotypes he is challenging) but you also touch on this idea of equality and discrimination.  
- are there support systems/laws/organizations out there?  how will we work towards equality and what are the examples of inequality or discrimination if that is what you are saying happens when we are influenced by negative stereotypes