For the homeless, keys to a home

[unhappycamper]

For the homeless, keys to a home
By David Abel
Globe Staff / February 24, 2008

For decades, governments treated homelessness as an intractable problem, relying on a patchwork of shelters and services to look after people considered too troubled or too far gone to keep permanently off the streets. Now, following a national trend, Governor Deval Patrick is proposing a radical change in the way Massachusetts deals with the indigent - giving the homeless homes.

Patrick is proposing spending $10 million to lay the foundation for placing thousands of homeless people in their own apartments over the next five years. Administration officials say taking homeless people off the street - and out of a cycle through jail and emergency rooms - could lead to better lives and lower costs to care for them.

In pilot programs, officials reported declines in costs for services from hospitalization to detox and imprisonment. They have also learned from homeless people in the program such as Burton Tainter that there may be hurdles in any large-scale effort to get the homeless off the streets.

After years of sleeping on grates behind the Boston Public Library, Tainter was given keys to his own apartment in North Quincy. It seemed a dream come true for the 61-year-old former welder from Lynn, who struggled with alcoholism and a host of physical and mental health issues.

But not long after moving in, Tainter wasn't sure he wanted to stay. The days alone were excruciating. The lure of booze and friends from the street was strong. And for weeks at a time, he would vanish from the apartment cluttered with recycled furniture, coffee cans, and cigarettes, resuming his old life of living on park benches in Boston.


Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/24/for_the_homeless_keys_to_a_home/

[izquierdista]

1. Excelent first step

And as they are finding out, you have to treat the whole person, with all of his other problems, not just the lack of a place to call home.

[caseycoon]

2. Exactly! :o) n/t