#Housing First

[chronicallycouchbound]

Wet shelters save lives. If someone is forced to freeze to death in their car because they’re not allowed in the local dry shelter because they’re under the influence, you are enabling their death.

[sordidamok]

Republicans have, for decades, been cutting social services, including mental health and substance use services, while giving tax breaks to billionaires and corporations without raising the minimum wage. Republicans created the homelessness crisis.

Now they want to criminalize the people who have suffered most from their policies. The only way this can make sense is if Republicans do not care at all how their policies hurt people as long as they get paid.

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

And as a follow up to that previous post: I really think that a lot of the anti-homeless stuff that governments do is a combination of NIMBY and "but what will the tourists and gentrifiers think!" to try and make it so miserable for them there that they'll just leave and be homeless somewhere else.

But! I think an overlooked, er, benefit? (side-bonus?) to the ruling class that I don't see talked about much of having a visible and deeply ostracized class of people who are outside of most of the social systems that the rest of us live within, is that they are sort of a permanent reminder and warning to anyone who doesn't play by the rules: hey. This could be you. This is you if you don't follow every work rule and get fired and can't get another job and run out of resources and support network (do you really have that anyway? would your friends and/or family really take you in if it came down to it?) and the social net has been totally eroded and so now here you are! On the street! Possibly for awhile, possibly forever.

And like basically what I'm trying to say is that as a society, we *need* to help the people who are currently being victimized by this system first and foremost because they are people and no one deserves that, but also because if everyone knew that there were options and could feel sure that their community would take care of them, how much braver would we be? If we took that threat away completely?

[etakeh]

I think most of us already know this, but in case you need it over the holidays as proof to your more annoying relatives.

If you really want to find out what kind of person they are, ask them, "where are they supposed to go? Just walk off a pier into the ocean?"

I asked my sister that a couple years ago, and she paused for way too long before she changed the subject.

[thelindenpapers]

Video Weekend (Late, But Important and Lovely)

PLN Positive Leftist News October 2024

[jinx-rants]

We don’t talk enough about how deeply evil and dystopian homelessness is.

Imagine living in a society with enough housing, food, clothing to make sure everyone’s basic needs are met and we just…don’t?

Mainstream liberal discourse has started to shift away from placing blame on unhoused people themselves, but still somehow treat the entire phenomenon as some tragic accident? Instead of shifting the blame to where it truly belongs, the intentional choices of politicians and capitalists, who choose every day NOT to end homelessness.

Homelessness exists as a threat.

A threat to the working class. A promise that if we don’t let ourselves be exploited, that if we don’t sell our labour to enrich the capitalist class while we barely survive, that we will end up on the street, and society at large is FINE WITH THAT.

HOMELESSNESS EXISTS AS A THREAT.

[gwydionmisha]

Finland Solved Homelessness: Here's How (Spoiler: It's More Than Housing First)

[progressive-politico]

Corporate landlords are a major factor in the skyrocketing housing costs for working and middle class families. We need to rein in Wall Street’s housing buyout and make it easier for Americans to buy a home.

[melanieaycockdesigns]

SERVING VS. HELPING 2/3

Housing First: A Human-Centered Solution to Homelessness

From our $2,000/month city apartments, its easy to follow the commonly-held narrative that our unhoused neighbors must first address the root causes of their situation before finding shelter. The Housing First approach, however, flips this paradigm on its head. The method recognizes that people must first have access to a safe shelter before they can stabilize, improve their health, or increase their income. After all, how are you supposed to stay sober when you don't have a place to sleep?

Housing First is ultimately a result of empathetic, human-centered design. It recognizes that individuals are unique and have different needs. The support is longterm and service-based, as opposed to quick-fix top-down handouts. And it works! Read here how Houston was able to reduce its homelessness rate by 55% by fully and consistently using this approach.

[manogirl]

Housing First

The other day I reblogged something about homelessness, and mentioned Housing First, so I just want to talk about that for a hot second before I forget, because I think a lot of people don't know what that means, and it's a VERY SPECIFIC philosophy on how to help people who find themselves homeless for various reasons.

See, in America, we think that if you are neurodivergent, mentally ill, or have an addiction, you should be punished. And if that punishment takes the form of homelessness, welp, that's too bad but what can you do? You've gotta be punished somehow. One of the ways this manifests is that IF you're, say, addicted to alcohol, we'll tell you that we really want to give you a studio apartment, but you have to get off the sauce first. Or if you're say, schizophrenic, well, you may not like what the meds do to you, but you gotta get on them before you can have a roof over your head.

Housing First says: Fuck that. Let's give people places to stay, no conditions attached, and THEN start to wrap the services around that, if they're wanted. But mostly, let's just get people into housing and see how that works for them.

Newsflash: it works for them. People who get housing with no conditions are safer. Their lives are measurably better. And cities and states save oodles of money (if you give a shit about that; I do not. I would give people housing even if it cost the city and state MORE money), the cops are called less, hospital emergency rooms have fewer people taking up space that don't need to be there, and in general, things are better.

And maybe some of those people go on to stabilize in some way. Maybe they don't? BUT WHO CARES? Every. single. human. being. deserves. housing. Regardless of health or mind or trauma or whatever the fuck it is that's impeding their ability to find housing.

In conclusion: HOUSING FIRST. UBI. SUPPORT HUMAN DIGNITY.

[bananarchy4ever]

Repost from @defund604network's instagram account. Graphic by Whess Harman. Info below.

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Callout for International Solidarity | Week of Action April 21-29 2023

/WHAT/ We are asking folks to autonomously organize solidarity actions in your own communities & let us know: encampmentsolidarity(AT)gmail.com.

We will be putting together a list of ALL solidarity actions in the coming days.

/OUR DEMANDS/ - No Displacement on Stolen Land - Stop the Sweeps / End Bylaw Raids - Homes Not Cops

Week of action begins Friday April 21, with a #StopTheSweeps action in so-called Victoria. More details via @mr.georgejim

/WHY/ #StopTheSweeps Coalition & supporters call for international solidarity in the struggle against colonial state-led displacement. We hope to see multiple cities across Turtle Island show up in care and solidarity with unhoused community members, while continuing to demand an end to inhumane practices of encampment evictions and sweeps.

Actions call on community members to take care of each other in the face of state abandonment. Actions call on all levels of govt to cease ongoing colonial dispossession, to end constant police surveillance and the enforcement of inhumane bylaws in encampments & to immediately respond to the urgent need for safe, autonomous, accessible public housing.

You can begin with material support and a willingness to learn and contribute to #MutualAid. We must show up for those that are criminalized and displaced by our cities.

/BACKGROUND/ Hastings Tent City in the #DTES of so-called Vancouver, has been a site of unhoused community and solidarity the past year in the face of ongoing state-led displacement.

On April 5 & 6, Hastings Tent City was raided by an occupying army of the #VPD & and city workers. Police-led decampment shut down multiple city blocks, restricted access to essential health services, and systematically stole homes and belongings.

The city has not offered dignified housing for those they are evicting, and admits that there is not even adequate shelter space. In the weeks since, the city and cops have continued to wage war on the poor and attempted to “reset behaviour” through daily intimidation & militarized sweeps.

[sordidamok]

And again, it would be cheaper to build affordable housing and/or convert existing structure for that purpose than to continue to persecute the homeless while simultaneously preventing them from finding housing.

[sordidamok]

I work in a homeless shelter, so this isn't a surprise to me.

Homelessness in USA is the direct result of capitalism. There are solutions - providing people with housing is an obvious one - but the problem can't be solved overnight. And it can't be solved when the super-rich are hoarding mountains of money and the rest of us are barely scraping by.

[darlingofdots]

my parents are on holiday in their mobile home

they're expected back this upcoming weekend

I just spent ten days in my childhood home to keep an eye on things

I have hidden 100 small yellow ducks all over the house

I am very excited for my parents to be back

[hitchhikersguild]

This is cool:

https://www.fastcompany.com/91218065/inside-ikeas-thoughtfully-designed-tiny-house

[conatic]

Lutte contre le sans-abrisme : plus de 2200 personnes aidées grâce au modèle 'Housing First' en Belgique - RTBF Actus

Source: RTBF