Housing First (housing)
11 October 2005
Good Morning,
Homelessness. An affliction on the “American Dream” that continues to elude cure.
I had my first adult encounter with homelessness right after high school--an encounter without understanding that I was at arm’s length from living on the street. It is only in hindsight that I recognize the pattern. Not that I claim any brotherhood with those who have learned to live without shelter, only that I was saved through a partnership with others who were equally ignorant.
Later labor in the unending stream of need brought perspective from the “other side of the desk”. The cognitive dissonance produced by the experience never did answer the essential questions of how to directly relate to homeless persons or how to solve the problem.
So, through a good liberal education and an oppositional attitude to authority I concluded that housing, and consequent, needs be met by the federal government. Except that the feds continue to spend for projects that run counter to such a stance.
People of modest to comfortable means became the most reliable method for support of programs designed (?) to meet the immediate needs of the homeless. This economic sector continues prominently in my plans to meet human need.
Now, I am in a policy/program development position. The question of cure floats back to the top of the pot—without an attached answer.
“Give Me a Home” is a 20 December, 2004 Mother Jones interview between Meghann Farnsworth and Sam Tsemberis, founder of a program addressing homelessness through a “housing first” philosophy: Pathways to Housing.
Tsemberis expresses the position much better than I can & I think that this is a position that should be part of any program I am involved with. In fact, there is a program that needs some guidance in relating to it’s consumers—so much so that I printed out the article and included it in an information packet they will get soon.
Anyway, I still don’t know & still struggle with the issue of accountability. That’s an issue for another day.
Rmcox
