“Give homeless people a home.”*
This answer seems glaringly obvious and yet it is not what we do.
I’d like to take credit for the line but I cannot. It was said on this podcast by Dr. Margot Kushel, Director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. The rest of this post is my slightly informed opinion based on her research and initiatives.
Homeless shelters do not solve homelessness because:
- They have strict rules.
- You cannot use alcohol or drugs.
- You have to be checked in each night after waiting in line to see if they have space for you.
- You have mandatory “lights out” and mandatory wake times.
- People steal your stuff (if you are even allowed to bring it in).
- You can’t choose your roommates.
- You can’t bring your spouse, partner, friend or pet.
- You are under strict supervision.
A homeless shelter is not a home. It is more like an overnight prison.
Dr. Kushel did a study where she provided apartments, free of charge, to homeless people who were checking out of dual-diagnosis emergency detox facilities. There were no strings attached. The homeless people were not required to be drug free or alcohol free. They didn’t have mandatory check in/check out times.
She said that 95% of the homeless people accepted the free apartment. Over time, some reduced their use of drugs and alcohol. Over time some went to mental health counseling and got psychiatric treatment. Some went to job training. Others got jobs and held them. Many did not get rearrested or sent to emergency detox.
Dr. Kushel said that alcohol (and drug use) are a big part of many people’s lives. These are a social norm. Making sobriety a precondition for homeless people to obtain shelter is backwards.
Homeless people first need a home.
Then, after they have a permanent address, they might be able to get the documents and resources they need to obtain work. It’s hard to get ID like a birth certificate, social security card or driver’s license when you don’t have an address. It’s hard to apply for a job if you cannot give the employer a place where you can be contacted.
If you are worried about finding a place to sleep tonight, it’s impossible to think about mental health treatment, finding work, getting clean, etc.
The public thinks that homelessness is caused primarily by mental illness, alcoholism and addiction. Kushel explains that it usual starts with poverty and some bad breaks.
A person who is living in poverty loses a job, or a partner who contributes financially, or has an accident or health problem. Then they can’t make their rent/mortgage and get evicted. Then they rely on friends or family for shelter for a while, but eventually leave because of conflicts, guilt at being a burden or their hosts being unable to provide for them because they (the hosts) too are poor.
The person then starts sleeping in their car, if they have one. Then it breaks down or gets towed away. Then they are “on the street”.
On the street is violent and dangerous and frightening and cold and wet and hot and miserable. Alcohol and drugs can numb the pain. And so it goes.
We should try something different with our dollars and resources spent to solve homelessness. It starts with providing a home.
If you are concerned about the rise in homelessness across the US, I encourage you to listen to this podcast for a more comprehensive discourse about how to solve the problem.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/factually-with-adam-conover/id1463460577?i=1000654896017
