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Oakland's Homeless Community Knows How to End the City's Housing Crisis. Will Its Leaders Listen?

Ariel Boone

July 14, 2020 |

Law at the Margins |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

The city of Oakland and local activists use a similar response to the problem – building encampments of "tiny houses" – but there are critical differences between the two programs. An activist group called The Village has taken over parkland or vacant lots to build 23 tiny structures at the heart of self-governed communities that activists hope alleviate homelessness in the short term and lead toward permanent solutions. The city has torn down most of The Village's structures and erected its own two-person sheds in camps governed by the city, an approach that has had mixed success for the people it served.

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Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need

Kathrin Glosel

July 13, 2020 |

Pressenza |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Finland

Finland, the only EU country with declining homelessness, uses a “Housing First” program to provide homes for people living on the streets with no preconditions. Nonprofits manage long-term housing and, once in homes, individuals receive a rental agreement and pay rent and expenses. Social workers provide services from offices in residential buildings and the state helps financially. The program provided 4,600 homes in the past decade and costs less than accepting the status quo of homelessness. About 20% drop out and around 1,900 people still live on the streets, but emergency shelters can accommodate them.

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The Love Lot: Where Step Up to the Plate offers free meals, live music, and medical attention to Kensington residents during COVID-19

Solmaira Valerio

July 07, 2020 |

Kensington Voice |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Step Up to the Plate is a collaborative effort of local organizations that began as a way to help those experiencing food insecurity due to Covid-19. Three outdoor sites have expanded to provide free meals, mental health and addiction resources, COVID-19 testing, live music and art to brighten people’s spirits, and help filling out stimulus check applications. The outdoor distribution site in Kensington gives out 560 healthy lunches a day. While the effort has brought to light just how bad things had gotten, it has also shown how effective organizations can be working together to meet the community’s needs.

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This town of 170,000 replaced some cops with medics and mental health workers. It's worked for over 30 years

Scottie Andrew

July 05, 2020 |

CNN |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Eugene, Oregon

The CAHOOTS crisis-response program saves its city money and its people living on the streets a great deal of unwanted police contact – contact that in other places is a common cause of excessive force and arrests that solve nothing. And, while less than 1% of its calls require police backup, the resource-thin agency cautions that it is a partner with police, not an antagonistic replacement, and that its model cannot simply be copied wholesale regardless of where it's used.

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This New York Program Is Getting Ahead of Homelessness

Agostino Petroni

July 02, 2020 |

Yes! Magazine |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

A program that aims to help New Yorkers who are at risk of losing their homes has proven effective in keeping people housed. Studies have shown that it is difficult to transition out of homelessness so its goal is to prevent it entirely. The group operates in all five boroughs of NYC and has helped almost 30,000 people on its budget of $53 million. The program provides both cash and services: money for rent, utilities, legal aid to fight evictions and settle landlord disputes, in addition to job training.

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COVID-19 Quarantine Facility Links Homeless To Range Of Services

Eleni Gill

June 26, 2020 |

Honolulu Civil Beat |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Iwilei, Hawaii

When Covid-19 began spreading throughout the United States, officials in Hawaii set up a quarantine facility for those experiencing homelessness that helped connect residents with other services to reduce their risk of contracting the virus. While it's too early to know if this could be a viable model for health care in the long run, the practice of temporary housing has currently helped curb the spread of the virus among the community's "unsheltered people."

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At COVID-19 tenting sites, residents find peace

David Minkow

June 24, 2020 |

The Discourse |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada, Duncan, British Columbia

A coalition of local groups in the Cowichan region focused on the welfare of vulnerable populations during COVID-19 opened five tenting sites that have provided people experiencing homelessness with safety, meals, and access to service. The temporary solution, pending the opening of 100 units of housing to open in 2021, has uncertain financing after its initial $392,000 phase. But, almost immediately, the well-managed sites have had a visible effect: many fewer people wandering the streets.

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How Detroit Gets People Around During a Pandemic

Emily Nonko

May 20, 2020 |

Next City |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Detroit, Michigan

The city of Detroit’s government spearheaded new partnerships at the start of the coronavirus pandemic to provide transit options for people living in city shelters and residents who don’t have cars to access COVID-19 testing. These partnerships among government departments allowed for transporting those experiencing homelessness to designated emergency shelters and hospitals to prevent the spread of the virus among shelter residents. Government officials anticipated as many as 450 shelter residents would contract the virus, but so far, only 154 people have tested positive with no deaths reported.

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In quarantine at Gallup hotels

Elise Kaplan Theresa Davis

May 17, 2020 |

Albuquerque Journal |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Gallup, New Mexico

In Gallup, New Mexico hotels are being used to house those who have been exposed to COVID-19, but have nowhere to safely quarantine themselves. This effort compliments "an aggressive tracing and testing program," and so far has housed around 120 people. Doctors are also working out of the hotels to provide medical attention to those who may need it.

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Government-Run Homeless Camps Could Come To LA

Matt Tinoco

May 07, 2020 |

LAist |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

In Los Angeles, a government-sanctioned camp has been developed for individuals experiencing housing insecurity. The camp, with around-the-clock security, offers residents water, meals, health care, and electrical outlets. While more have popped up as a response to slowing the spread of COVID-19 among those living on the streets, there have been arguments made for keeping them as a step toward more secure housing for individuals.

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