Houston has been trying for a long time to help the homeless, and their most recent attempts may be beginning to work. The head of Houston’s Coalition for the Homeless, Kelly Young, spoke out against the “Housing First” method, which has been the most effective way to fight homelessness in the city.
The idea behind “Housing First” is that the city should first spend money to get people into a house or flat and then work on making their lives stable. This would help them get people off the streets instead of just adding another bed at the shelter.
Sixty-two-year-old Army veteran Julie Blow was able to get back on her feet with the help of the Housing First method. Two surgeries and a lot of bad luck put her in the situation she was in, with a lot of medical bills. This way helped her get into her own apartment quickly.
Blow said, “I’m so happy I feel like a teenager!” “You know, before all the bad things that happen to you in life make you bitter?” “I feel like a teen!”
More than 30,000 people have been placed in Houston since this method was put in place. Since then, the number of homeless people has dropped by 63%.
The person who came up with the Housing First method, Mandy Chapman, said, “When we see more people becoming homeless, our first instinct is to hire more outreach workers and build more shelter beds.”
She went on, “The idea that if you don’t have a stable place to live, you can change and deal with complicated mental health problems, addiction problems, and complicated money problems? It’s just not possible.”
She said that this approach could allow other states and towns to do the same thing to help fight homelessness in the US and even around the world.
