One idea that I propose is to fight homelessness before the addiction. The vast majority of homeless shelters and homeless programs I have encountered demands that an individual is sober while in the program and if they are found to break this rule, they would be released. While transitioning into these programs is often beneficial for homeless people, they can often be quite stressful and their way of life is completely altered. This can make change remarkably harder as an individual goes through withdrawals. I would propose that we combat homelessness and get the individuals comfortable in their new quality of life and then combat the addiction.
While addiction is a horrible desire that is often incredibly hard to overcome. It is shown that having a purpose in life dramatically raises your chances and getting over an addiction. One of the largest accidental case studies has been the Vietnam war. About 30 percent of Vietnam veterans have reported to abuse hard drugs such as cocaine or heroine in their time overseas. However, when they came back the number of addicted veterans dramatically dropped to only 10%. Most researches attribute this to having a purpose. Many of them returned to family or their jobs, they couldn't afford to be addicted. Obviously, this is extremely simplified and each individual case of addiction is unique. But I feel that an individual is comfortable and stable in their new environment is more likely to be free from addiction than one who is trying to both go through withdrawals and adapt to a new environment.
Vietnam addiction statistics
https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.64.12_Suppl.38
Addiction Statistics
https://www.addictioncenter.com/addiction/homelessness/
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