Posted on July 20, 2010
I have asked Katie Van Arnam, VSH’s Director of Housing Access Programs, to write this week’s blog. Thanks, Alice
Is this household able to maintain permanent housing? Are they “ready” to be in their own place? Will they be able to “make it”? In my role at Virginia Supportive Housing, I hear these questions on a regular basis. My answer is always “yes”. I typically provide this response before I know any information about the situation and leave the individual asking me the question with a confused look on their face. In my mind, the issue is not “is this person sustainable in permanent housing” but instead, “does our community have a housing option that meets this person’s needs?”
Communities should have an array of options for those experiencing a housing crisis including outreach, prevention, emergency and transitional shelter, and affordable rental housing, and permanent, supportive housing. These options should be available to anyone who needs them, including those with physical disabilities and language barriers. Most importantly, the services and programs should match the needs of the household. Instead of blaming the person experiencing the crisis and saying “they will never make it in permanent housing” or “what did they do to get themselves here”, we should be looking at the services available in our community and asking why we do not have the capacity to meet this person’s needs.
VSH’s A Place to Start (APTS) program is a perfect example of this theory. This program serves single individuals with an extensive history of homelessness as well as a serious mental health disorder. By most standards, participants would not be able to “make it on their own” in permanent housing. However, the APTS program has proven otherwise. By matching the appropriate level of support services (in this case, intense service) to the needs of program participants, people are able to remain stable and avoid returning to homelessness. After operating for two and a half years, this program has shown a 98% success rate. This is for a group that most felt would not be “suitable” in permanent housing.
This housing first approach to ending homelessness is not unique to Richmond. According to HUD, more than 70,000 units of permanent housing as described above have been funded since 2001. Nationwide, the number of chronically homeless individuals has decreased by a third since 2005 (dropping to 112,000). Nationally, it is recognized that people may not “look ready for permanent housing” but they can, and will, make it in permanent housing if given the appropriate opportunity.
In addition to being the socially just thing to do, this matching of needs with services makes fiscal sense. The cost of homeless prevention, emergency shelters, transitional shelters, permanent supportive housing, and support services varies greatly. It is our responsibility to ensure that the most expensive programs are utilized for those who truly need them, and to then demand outcomes that justify the expense. In a recent article printed in the Washington Post, Dennis Culhane discusses five myths about America’s homeless. He discusses the role of emergency shelters since the 1980’s, and stresses that shelters have become “institutionalized way stations for lots of poor people with temporary housing crises.” He goes on to state, “To be in a shelter is to be homelessness, and the more shelters we build the more resources we divert from the only real solution to homelessness: permanent housing.”
I have urged my staff, and I am urging you to change your frame of thinking and begin to believe that anyone and everyone is able to “make it” in permanent housing. It is not our job to make that call. It is, however, our job to ensure that a wide variety of options are available.
Posted on June 9, 2010
I have asked Alison Jones-Nassar, VSH’s volunteer program coordinator, to write this week’s blog. Thanks, Alice
This morning, as I waited for my mom to come out of surgery, I scanned the NY Times for items relating to homelessness, thinking I would surely find at least one brief mention of the issue. And sure enough, as soon as I turned to the Op-Ed page, my eyes fell upon the heading, “Still No Shelter.” But as I continued reading, I realized it did not refer to homelessness after all, or at least not as it concerns NYC or even the US. Instead this column bemoaned the lack of progress in Haiti, where it claimed, “More than a million people are displaced [from the earthquake]…and Haiti’s government has no clear strategy to get them…into more secure shelter any time soon.”
Needless to say, this is an urgent situation and there is no question that it needs to be a high priority for the entire region. Human suffering on this scale, regardless of where it is, should not be acceptable and cannot be ignored.
But meanwhile, homelessness has been on the agenda in this country for more than three decades. Since 1980 billions of dollars have been spent nationwide on the problem. And yet the number of individuals experiencing or at serious risk of experiencing homelessness only continues to climb. On any given night, almost 700,000 people in the US lack a safe place to sleep at night and have no secure access to food, clothing, or sanitation – never mind employment, transportation, or health care.
What is our government’s “clear strategy” for getting these suffering human beings “into secure shelter”? The good news is that, after three decades of merely managing the issue of homelessness, our nation is finally beginning to shift resources toward strategies that solve the problem. Permanent supportive housing is an evidence-based cost-effective model that works. With even the hardest-to-serve populations, the rate of success is around 90% and the expense to taxpayers is a fraction of what we have been spending.
If we are really serious about responding to human suffering at home and abroad, then we need to get serious about ending homelessness now. By implementing permanent supportive housing on a large scale to meet the large need confronting our society, we could achieve that goal within our lifetime. Only then will we be in a position to judge the response strategies of other countries. And only then will we be in a position to respond ourselves.
Posted on June 1, 2010
According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, about one out of every five individuals experiencing homelessness – or approximately 107,000 individuals – is a veteran.
Why do soldiers who have served our country wind up on the streets, and what can be done to prevent this from happening?
Reintegration into civilian life after military service is difficult under the best of circumstances. The shortage of affordable housing and jobs only makes things worse. Without sufficient family and social support networks, this transition can be overwhelming. And when other co-occurring factors such as disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse, or incarceration are present, the result for many veterans is homelessness.
VSH client Sam Phillips* is one such veteran. Despite being a highly decorated paratrooper in Vietnam, Sam returned to the U.S. suffering from a variety of medical complications that led to drug abuse, lost jobs, and ultimately a three-month episode of homelessness.
According to NCHV, veterans who are struggling with multiple reintegration issues require a response that meets their needs for secure affordable housing, access to health care, mental health & substance abuse counseling, job training, and other services. In other words, they need the type of permanent supportive housing that Virginia Supportive Housing provides.
The VSH solution got Sam off the streets, and it can help other veterans as well. But we can’t do it without you.
This past weekend was about remembering those American men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in defense of our country. Honoring them is the right thing to do. But while Memorial Day only happens once a year, our nation’s returning veterans need support year-round. Remembering them – and responding to their needs – is also the right thing to do. To learn more about the VSH solution, click here.
*not his real name
Posted on April 13, 2010
The crisis of homelessness in America incurs many quantifiable costs. These costs include the money that it takes to place people experiencing homelessness in shelters, emergency rooms, jails and prisons, etc.
Perhaps the least examined and talked about cost of the crisis of homelessness in America is the loss of future productivity. In basic economic terms, loss of future productivity is an “opportunity cost”: the benefits which would have been received if a different course of action was taken.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness explains the concept of lost future productivity in the article The Cost of Homelessness.
“Decreased health and more time spent in jails or prisons, means that homeless people have more obstacles to contributing to society through their work and creativity. Homeless children also face barriers to education.”
One VSH client, James Trent* of Roanoke Va., found himself unable to work because of his severe health conditions. James had a bad knee and was in serious need of heart bypass surgery. After running out of money, he found himself on the streets.
Through a local shelter organization, James heard about VSH and contacted them about housing. He was finally able to receive bypass surgery, he qualified and received housing through VSH and is looking forward to beginning his new job soon.
“It’s a good feeling,” James said about his housing and ability to work again. New Clay House provides him with “privacy” and makes him “very happy” in his every day life.
By working to end homelessness instead of provide temporary solutions to the crisis, VSH hopes to provide an opportunity for people like James who, by having a place to live, will be able to contribute what they have to offer to society.
*Name was changed to protect participant’s privacy.
Posted on January 12, 2010
1) The number of children experiencing homelessness has remained relatively stable over the last three years.
2) 31% of people experiencing homelessness report mental health problems.
3) Approximately 18% of people experiencing homelessness are veterans.
4) It costs more to provide emergency shelter (up to 90 days) and transitional housing (up to 2 years) than it does to provide permanent supportive housing.
5) Almost 20% of persons experiencing homelessness in Greater Richmond report Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover as their previous place of residence.
…stay tuned for additional “Did you know?” blogs every month
Data provided by Homeward
