Housing first

[jeffster]

"Housing First" is one of the approaches that has been proposed for addressing homelessness.

The Guardian has good coverage of how this is working in Helsinki:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/...melessness

You'd really have to change the mentality of people in this country to do something like this. You'd be throwing billions to solve the issues, but there would likely be a net savings when all is said and done.

1) Spend money on housing.
2) Spend money on mental health care.
3) Spend money on SIS and free hard drugs, like heroine, like what they do for some in Vancouver.

Your savings though come in by; less incarceration (which is super expensive!!). You save too because many of these people will eventually lead a normal life, even if limited. You save money too by using EMS, and hospital services a lot less.

But it's wrapping our heads around the concept of housing for everyone that is hard. And they training and work that goes along with it (to keep housing safe and clean).

I was actually thinking of housing today when I drove by the apartment/condo's being built on International Place. It's all pre-fab. Would a crown corporation or NGO non-profit not be able to set something like this up to building units quickly and inexpensively? They could have manufacturers around the country, and construction crews, creating thousands of good paying jobs, but no top heavy management and profits. At the same time, creating thousands of units yearly at a great price.

And, I'd take it a step further, allow some sort of ownership, like what Habitat for Humanity does.

There are solutions, but they'd probably not be popular because many don't like the idea of certain types of people getting 'freebies' when they have to work their ass off to make a living. But I think for society, at the end of the day, would be safer and much better.

IMHO, of course