Illegal Outside, Dangerous Inside

Forbes recently spoke with Dr. Jim O’Connell, president of Boston Health Care for the Homeless, about “Housing First” - a model that believes that permanent, supportive housing is the key to helping people experiencing homelessness. With stable housing and voluntary support services, those surviving the trauma of living on the streets can receive the physical, emotional, and mental support they need to rebuild. We’ve found that once someone is living indoors with a stable address, it’s easier for them to receive mail and legal documents, shower, have clean clothes, and hold steady employment. While Housing First is gaining momentum in New York City, it still faces a lot of obstacles.

Many cities have begun passing laws that criminalize being homeless and have razed homeless encampments, often throwing away peoples' crucial identification and medication. Missouri, for example, passed a new state law that makes it a crime for any person to sleep on state property. For unhoused people, sleeping in public parks or under city highways that could mean up to $750 in fines or 15 days in prison for multiple offenses. And once you have a criminal record, it only makes finding housing even more difficult. Many shelters are overcrowded and can be dangerous, if your city even has a shelter. Making it illegal to live on the street leaves our friends experiencing homelessness across the country without options.

So where do you go when it’s illegal to be outside and a threat to go inside?

Housing First, as a principle, understands that any response to homelessness needs to be trauma-informed and holistic in scope. The response needs to fit the person. Not have the person fit the response.

City Relief has always - and will always - meet each of our friends exactly where they are.

We’ve found that leading with love and grace and being prepared with a wide range of partnerships that can meet our friends’ needs is most effective at lowering the barriers to achieving wholeness. It starts with a meal and a place where someone feels welcome. Then a conversation with one of our trained staff members can tell us what they need, and we find the solutions that are the best fit for them. 

Thank you for your faithfulness, 

Josiah