Partners for HOME’s Post

Housing is the answer to homelessness. But in the interim, trauma informed housing focused case management is the standard for working with people experiencing homelessness.

"Using USICH criteria and benchmarks for ending family homelessness, the initiative utilizes a “collective impact model,” which brings different organizations together toward a common goal rather than leaving each to its own agenda and strategies, Kohler said. For Milwaukee, that has meant settling on one definition of family homelessness for all agencies and sectors to work with. It has meant sharing data and creating one dashboard to track progress. And it has meant constant communication, bringing all partners together to meet quarterly to strengthen relationships between shelters, rapid rehousing providers and eviction lawyers." #collectiveimpact #homelessness #endhomelessness

When many people think of #homelessness and its impact on their #community, #panhandling tends to come to mind. There are a lot of misconceptions about this activity and National Homelessness Law Center does a great job of debunking common myths in this piece. I highly recommend you check it out. But they also rightfully point out that the key to addressing panhandling isn't to ban it altogether-- it's to address the root cause: homelessness. By providing the homeless population with the services and support they need to get back on their feet, we can solve issues such as panhandling. At Vegas Stronger, we believe that homelessness is a community issue. Let's come together to solve it. #AddictionRecovery #VegasStronger

The National Coalition on Housing Justice (NCHJ) has issued a statement on the USICH Encampment Guidance. Overall, the statement both acknowledges the affirming strategies outlined by USICH (US Interagency Council on Homelessness) to address encampments as well as those that can be interpreted by localities to continue and pursue harm and criminalization against an already-marginalized community (including youth). We are deeply saddened by the latter, but understand that this means that we simply have a great deal of worthwhile work ahead of us as those who work to end and prevent homelessness. To read the entire statement by either NCHJ or USICH visit the links below or check our bio for links. NCHJ Statement:  https://lnkd.in/e7N_84JR USICH Guidance: https://lnkd.in/enyvSu_m #endyouthhomelessness #sotm #homeless #homelessyouth #housingisahumanright Funders Together to End Homelessness

Last week I was proud to stand alongside the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, the ACLU and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights to demand the City of San Francisco stop taking away homeless people's possessions and forcing them to relocate. Cruelty, police and prison will not solve the problem of homelessness in San Francisco. From the recent California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness https://lnkd.in/gjCEmBEx "High housing costs and low income left participants vulnerable to homelessness. In the six months prior to homelessness, the median monthly household income was $960. A high proportion had been rent-burdened. Approximately one in five participants (19%) entered homelessness from an institution (such as a prison or prolonged jail stay); 49% from a housing situation in which participants didn’t have their name on a lease or mortgage (non-leaseholder), and 32% from a housing situation where they had their name on a lease or mortgage (leaseholder)." Homeless people are not the problem, they are the symptom of the problem. The problem is racism, greed, lack of affordable housing and livable wage careers, gentrification, displacement, mass incarceration. Let's all work together to solve the problem, end employment and housing discrimination, help tenants fight eviction, help returning people reenter, build affordable housing, and get homeless people into our existing empty supportive housing units. Let's listen to our unhoused neighbors and provide culturally competent drug treatment and mental health and physical health care. "Karen Fleshman, who formerly ran for the San Francisco Board of Education, was rallying in support of the lawsuit to stop encampment sweeps. She pointed to a recent UCSF study that found the majority of those living on The City’s streets lost their housing in California. “Rather than rely on just our anecdotal impressions of homelessness, I think it’s really important to look at a statistically reliable and valid study,” she said. Fleshman said affordable housing is a major driver of homelessness, but more can be done to quell the number of encampments. “Right now, there are vacant supportive housing units for homeless people that are sitting empty because of bureaucratic delays in getting the people into them,” she said." #sanfrancisco #homelessness https://lnkd.in/gF-a_m-h

ICYMI: At least 68,440 people are experiencing homelessness in Chicago. This report by the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless gives us a better understanding of the scope of homelessness, allowing local groups to work together to broaden the federal definition of homelessness and advocate for resources to address all forms of homelessness.  #endhomelessness #BringChicagoHome Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gJN9VSwB

Raiding homeless encampments without ensuring residents have housing is cruel, costly, and only leads to more encampments being created elsewhere. Recent guidelines issued by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) dismisses this crucial fact by including two strategies that cause harm to people experiencing homelessness: encampment closures without requiring that housing be available to all residents, and the use of police in an encampment response. Shame on communities who use guidance like this to justify forcefully and violently removing people from their living situations, doing nothing to solve homelessness. The USICH guidance concerningly enables cities to redirect resources away from proven solutions to homelessness and toward policies that make homelessness worse. The solution to homelessness must include the removal of all police from homelessness response. Read the full statement from the Law Center and our partners at the National Coalition for Housing Justice: https://loom.ly/4ePekjE

"In Miami, which was under a federal ruling for more than two decades prohibiting the use of jail cells and fines as a response to homelessness, the county funded housing and services. It reduced homelessness by 90 percent. Milwaukee County implemented a housing-first program nearly a decade ago, which resulted in a 92 percent decrease in its homeless population. And Houston, the fourth-most populous city in the nation, provided more than 25,000 homeless people with apartments and houses between 2011 and 2022, reducing homelessness by 64 percent. We cannot simply continue to turn to the justice system to solve social services problems. Doing so is not only relying on the wrong tool for the job, but it violates one of our most fundamental rights as Americans. The solution to homelessness is safe, decent, and affordable housing for everybody and we must ensure that all our neighbors have the housing they need to thrive." Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVymXV7F

#HousingNews we're reading this week: "The Johnson v. Grants Pass case before the Supreme Court represents a watershed moment for how cities across the U.S. address homelessness. It seeks to overturn a precedent set by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2020 that prevents cities from punitively punishing people experiencing homelessness when no shelter options are available. This is happening at a time when more than 653,000 people experience homelessness in the U.S. on a given night, a more than 12% increase from 2023. Meanwhile, the rising cost of owning and renting a home is forcing more low-income earning households to experience housing instability than ever before, thereby increasing their risk of becoming homeless." https://lnkd.in/enNssvtD

#Supportivehousing is proven to reduce homelessness, yet NY grossly underfunds NYSSHP, one of the oldest programs in the State. One of my development partners, @JerichoProject1's Tori Lyon, urges lawmakers to correct this & create greater outcomes for all NYers. #savesupportivehousing