"a study by the National Alliance to end Homelessness"

[hfojvt]

"This morning I recommend to you, a study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

It was released piece by piece beginning in July, and is now complete. You can find it here, here, and here. Among it's findings are the fact that 671,859 people are currently homeless, and as many as 216 people per 10,000 are homeless in some areas."

excerpts and links here - http://fourteenpercent.typepad.com/14/

[Freddie Stubbs]

1. There will never be and end to homelessness

Even with a perfect economy and generous social safety net. There will always be people who do not want to live in a home or are unable or unwilling to do what is necessary to live in a home. And we are no longer able to lock these people up unless we can prove that they are a danger to themselves or others.

[vadawg]

2. +1 yup there are always people who make the decision themselves

or who you might consider homeless but they dont....

[tonysam]

I hate to tell you, but most of these people aren't bums or boozers

My goodness, why are these nonsensical ideas even posted here?

[Greyhound]

6. It is impossible to overstate the damage Raygun did to this nation. n/t

[vadawg]

8. who said they were, theres a myriad of reasons why people are homeless

some are at fault for their predicament, some are not. Not every homeless person fits neat categories so fixes shouldnt either.

[hfojvt]

4. there perhaps don't need to be 700,000 of them

it also depends of the difficulty of "what is necessary"

[Greyhound]

5. Ah yes, Raygun's "urban camping enthusiasts".

Just amazing...
:eyes::crazy::eyes:

[ipaint]

3. Two words "Affordable Housing"

"Research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania showed that most single adults coming into shelters exited pretty quickly but that a small group of single adults were chronically homeless. They typically had serious mental illnesses and frequently used public services, such as emergency shelters, emergency rooms and hospitals, and prison or jails. Research showed that this group could be helped with permanent supportive housing, which provides a housing subsidy alongside intensive services to promote housing stability. The clincher? Providing this group with permanent supportive housing could cost almost the same as doing nothing.

This work and other research debunked the “housing readiness” theory—the idea that people have to overcome their personal problems and be ready for housing before leaving shelters. Instead, evidence supported the “housing first” approach. “Housing first” says that most people, even people with mental illness and substance abuse problems, can stay housed with the support of wraparound services. Having a safe, stable place allows people to work on their other problems. You can’t improve your life if you’re living out of a shelter, checking in and out every day, sleeping with bedbugs, having your things stolen, and possibly experiencing sexual or physical violence—those aren’t optimal conditions for finding and keeping a job or stabilizing mental illness. Recent evidence from Seattle shows that people who move from the street into stable housing do improve their lives—for example, they may start drinking less.



...Research clearly shows that affordable housing ends homelessness for people. And we have a real housing need in this country. In 2006, 8.8 million renter households were spending more than half their income on housing. We need to invest more in affordable housing and make some changes in our tax policies to support rental housing. Current policies are heavily geared towards homeowners. If the foreclosure crisis has taught us anything, it’s that not everyone should be a homeowner and that a strong rental policy can be a good thing for the country. Perhaps some of the tax subsidies going to homeowners could be used to build affordable housing because the market doesn’t do it. We need more housing vouchers too. Some are nervous about increasing the housing voucher program, but the program works. Vouchers can help people get stable housing and are typically used for only a few years."

http://www.urban.org/toolkit/fivequestions/MCunningham.cfm

[tonysam]

7. And the problem with low-income housing is they cater to families,

not to single people without dependents, which means the requirements are grossly outdated.

[hfojvt]

9. it's one of our American principles

generally, nobody wants to help you if you are an adult. The only reason we will help an adult is if they have kids. Then we will grudgingly help the kids.

[Ocracoker16]

10. that is really important to understand

Most of the low income housing is aimed at families. I volunteer at a transitional home for women who are trying to get back on their feet. They are allowed to stay for up to a year. However, they have a really hard time finding affordable housing options for singles.