Explain The Needs For Permanent Supportive Housing

Imagine this, a family of four is trying to survive the night. They are lying on the ground in bitter temperatures with only a cardboard box and a blanket to shield themselves from the harsh nights that they are forced to endure. Men, women, and children wait for morning when the doors of the food shelter will finally open, providing many with their meal of the day. This is the setting for hundreds of families in the Phoenix area. It can happen to anyone, anytime. Sometimes it’s a result of circumstances beyond our control- job loss, eviction, domestic violence, mental illness, medical bills. Homelessness is a growing problem and I have a proposition to stop it. We must give homeless people permanent housing with no strings attached.

One of the simplest pieces of knowledge we acquire in elementary school (for future growth and development) are the three basic needs a living organism requires for living: food, water, and shelter. However, not everyone has access to all of these essentials. Homeless people are faced with awful conditions and suffer more due to poor weather conditions, diseases, and lack of safety. There hasn’t been much progress on this issue, and if this continues, the number of homeless people will only increase. In a few states the topic is being named as a “statewide emergency”, but unfortunately this problem is national. Instead of focusing on state programs, local programs and non-profit organizations to fix the housing issue, we must all contribute to ending this epidemic. The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) released an article stating, “In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night in the United States” (Snapshot of Homelessness). We must develop a solution to end long term homelessness immediately. The best way of solving this issue is to provide stable long-term housing, which is a term used to describe the home’s environment and financial status.

    Start building this shelter and watch the percentages drop. The drug and alcohol rates will steadily decrease as well as crime rates. What will increase actually will look great for our city, as sanitation and city morale will boost.  It’s quite clear that taking abandoned buildings and turning them to homeless shelters will help the people in need and the city of

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights asserts that housing is a fundamental component to a decent standard of living, yet few city governments--even in the most developed economies--have proven themselves capable of ensuring such a basic right to their constituents (United Nations, General Assembly). Ranked 49th among the 50 U.S. states for its number of housing units per capita, California has notoriously struggled with chronic shortages in its urban housing market. With 118,142 homeless people recorded in 2016, California holds almost 22% of the nation’s homeless population (Fact Sheet: Homelessness in California 1).

When it comes to addressing homelessness, one of the biggest obstacles faced by many communities has to do with the providing of homeless support services (HSS).” (https://slohomeless.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/why-do-some-people-object-to-helping-the-homeless/) Many people say the issue needs to be “dealt’ with, but when it comes to building a shelter, the community often opposed the idea. “There are numerous reasons why some folks in any given community are against expanding services – or even providing any type of HSS altogether.” Some of the most common objections are, Not In My Backyard (NIMBY),”These folks will complain bitterly that something needs to be done about the homeless...They go to great lengths to make themselves appear as though they are not uncaring. Yet, these same folks are the ones who object the loudest…” Then there are the people who say, “It cost to much.” Yes I understand that it needs a lot of money to make the shelters but, it would help with getting the homeless off the streets and maybe they could get cleaned up and find a job. One of the last common ones is , “ Providing services will draw more homeless to the community.” That’s true but only for an extent. Yes Iknow it will bring the homeless to the community but think of all the homeless Veterans we could save. Think of the people who chose to serve for our country and we just want them to willow away on the

The amount of homeless people in humboldt county has always been really high, but one main reason for their homelessness is drug addiction. In opioids and homelessness The National Alliance to End Homelessness says “ A survey by the United States Conference of Mayors found that 68 percent of cities reported that substance abuse was the largest cause of homelessness for single adults.” This shows how serious substance abuse is, and that it's prevalence in the homeless community. A lot of resources for the homeless are difficult for people who hardly have any money to support themselves to afford. According to can Humboldt solve addiction one night at a detox facility is about 150$. That is too much for someone with no bank account, and very little money on hand. We, as a people need to try an attack this issue and get it more funding so that addicts can afford the help they need. A lot of people don't want to help the homeless purely due to not understanding exactly how addiction has made them unable to work. The way addiction affects the body is serious and if you don't get help for too long you can permanently harm your body. And a lot of addicts aren’t even homeless, but don't have enough money to afford rehab. Humboldt county needs to help the homeless and sheltered addicts by spreading awareness and providing better funding for programs they need to get better.

With a large homeless community and vacant houses one of the first natural thoughts could be to renovate these houses, and turn them into homes for the homeless. But, it just may not be that simple. In the article, Barbara Samuels, who is a managing attorney for the ACLU of Maryland’s Fair Housing Project referenced an attempt to do that exact same thing about two decades ago. A developer named James Rouse and city officials put forth more than $130 million into a poverty-stricken neighborhood to rehabilitate houses and build more, and sadly there are even more vacant houses than before. Unfornately, this probably caused some people to feel there is nothing that can be done, and loose all hope in restoring these homes.

The issue and problem of homelessness is and has been widespread throughout the world; different countries address the problem in a variety of ways. Here in the United States, both the government and nonprofit agencies exist in order to address the wide array of problems homelessness entails. For example, Government programs such as The Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness exist as a partnered effort by the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Veterans Affairs, and the US Interagency Council on Homelessness. These entities exist in an effort to collaboratively house and deliver services to

People drive or walk past a homeless person almost every day without thinking twice about the plight of that person or they may even unconsciously turn their heads the other way in disgust. Homelessness simply put, means without a home - therefore homelessness is an equal opportunity state that can happen to anyone. Even though we have seen some economic prosperity over the years, statistics show that the number of homeless remains very high. With this in mind, communities need to come together at the state, city, and individual level to come up with solutions to mitigate the spreading of this problem.

California streets are overwhelmed day-to-day by the homeless population, yet city and county services are limited and the issue continues on. To address the problem of homelessness in California, city and county leaders have collaborated and proposed future plans across the region. The city council recently approved a plan that involves the creation of services and programs to those who are homeless, but realizes the budget for funding these plans are not available at hand. The effort to solve the homelessness problem is not within the plans of strategies; however funding these strategies is the solution to making these plans a reality. Focusing on the issue, the city and county leaders have different roles that each are responsible for and the funds needed for these plans exceeds over $1.85 billion over the next ten years and currently about $30 million is already spent on strategies to reduce the homeless population.

The other model that we could use would be the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSA) model. This model would have me working with people who have health conditions that may have historically made getting housing and keeping it difficult, such as people with a mental health challenge or substance abuse (Cite article here). These people are supported by ongoing case management with the goal of maintaining that housing once obtained. A well-known example of this model is that of Housing and Urban development- veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program. I have one of these programs in my local community (cite article here). They work with veterans in a temporary nature while looking and secure housing using a section 8 voucher. During

11 years ago, the King County formulated a 10-year plan to end homelessness. Today, Seattle and the King County see numbers higher than ever (Ryan). Should the plan be stuck to and should the city continue doing what it is doing? The answer is obvious; no. Being the fastest growing city in the country (Ryan), Seattle cannot expect to keep housing prices low with ease, and although a respectable 6,000 units of housing have been built with the intent of being affordable (Ryan), it is illogical to believe that it is possible to simply outrun the number of homeless people. Changing the cause is what needs to happen, and only serving people year after year does not work. Although there is no easy way to just reduce housing prices with the snap of the fingers, spending the estimated billion dollars on helping the homeless in the last decade and still being the 4th highest city for homeless population (Ryan) is absolutely ridiculous. In the case of trying to help the current homeless, the majority of funding should be cut, as it is not

As with most industrialized areas, homelessness is prevalent in my community. People are left without options as jobs become increasingly competitive. Homelessness is ubiquitous, yet it is a topic that is rarely discussed because it makes us feel uncomfortable. We feel uncomfortable that people die on the streets, uncomfortable because we're scared to help, uncomfortable because we are solicited. As a leader in my community, I know that change starts from the bottom up. Last year, as with the year before, I helped to assemble and distribute care packages to the homeless community in downtown San Jose. These packages, though small, are proof that change is in the little things. The homeless have a strong social stigma around them that I believe

According to Foscarinis (1996), we need to focus on long term measures opposed to emergency relief of the homeless. We need to focus on what causes people to be homeless fundamentally. “Everyone has an interest in pleasant public spaces and that no one has an interest in living on the streets” (Foscarinis, 1996, p. 3). So if we, as a community focus on what is causing homeless in the first place, maybe we can stop it or intervene. Many incentives will be put into play to help combat this problem. For business owner who contribute housing for an example, will receive tax deductions, or citizens that aid in the community parks will receive gas cards, free entertainment tickets,

In addition to the creation of greater housing services, funding dedicated to eradicating homelessness in Seattle should go towards increasing the availability and accessibility of supportive services such as substance abuse and mental health programs. In 2005, The Committee to End Homelessness in King County (CEHKC) began its implementation of “A Roof Over Every Bed in King County: Our Community 's Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness." This plan outlined strategies to end and prevent homelessness with a focus on increasing permanent housing (Ryan, 2015). While many individuals have been housed, there are still long wait lists and the number of people on the streets has actually increased in the Seattle area since 2005 (Ryan, 2015). Mayor Ed