What is Housing First?
Housing First is an approach to aiding homelessness through providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness. It operates under the assumption that housing is a basic necessity that if not addressed makes even basic tasks more difficult, if not impossible, to perform. Some even advocate for free/affordable housing for all Americans.
Does Housing First Work?
Some have advocated for Treatment First policies, such as the local government in Florida state. Devon Kurtz, the policy director for public safety at the Cicero Institute claims "The problem with Housing First is not so much just the idea that housing is an important component of this, but that it’s the only thing that matters." Yet, according to The Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R), several studies have found that, compared with the treatment first model, Housing First approaches offer greater long-term housing stability, especially among people experiencing chronic homelessness. Programs may also reduce costs by shortening stays in hospitals, residential substance abuse programs, nursing homes, and prisons. As well as successfully house people with intersecting vulnerabilities, such as veterans and people with a history of substance abuse, mental illness challenges, domestic violence, and chronic medical conditions such as HIV/AIDS. Housing Navigation Program Director Beth Olson in Fargo North Dakota says that "Housing first has been incredibly successful. About 90% of the people that we serve are maintaining their housing for over a year."
How Can We Help Advocate for Housing First?
Outside of voting and advocating for Housing First or affordable housing to our local representatives, there's work that can be done. Housing First initiatives are constantly looking for volunteers and donations. Path Home, a Portland based operation, has links to both donations and volunteer work. This work ranges from helping in kitchens to acting as a guardian for children facing homelessness. If you happen to be outside of the Portland metro area I strongly recommend looking into other organizations that advocate for Housing First and see how you can assist in their efforts. For Portland readers please click the link below to check out their volunteer work or click the "Give" button in the top right corner of their page to donate today!
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