What issue in homelessness policy should everyone be reminded of?
It costs only slightly more to successfully house a person who is homeless than it costs to keep that person on the streets. This message is compelling to all “funders” of homeless programs – whether public or private or citizen tax-payers. From the Sound Families Initiative, a public-private partnership providing service-enriched housing in the Puget Sound region, we know first-hand that the vast majority of families are accessing and stabilizing in permanent housing. Most families report being employed and stable. Although a comprehensive approach to solving homelessness in any community takes a determined amount of political will and ingenuity among dozens of public and private entities, the alternative is drain on taxpayer dollars that far eclipses the kind of investment required for smart local planning to solve the problem. How did you start working in the field of homelessness (or housing)? I’ve always been motivated by my belief that housing is a basic necessity and everyone sh
