Avalon Housing’s Post

Important takeaways from this Bloomberg Citylab article on #HomelessnessPrevention in County of Santa Clara 🎯 🎯 🎯 1️⃣ Homelessness is PREVENTABLE: “Researchers at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, who studied [the Homelessness Prevention System] found that 81% of those who enrolled were less likely to experience homelessness within six months.“ 2️⃣ It’s more cost-effective to prevent homelessness BEFORE it happens. "...the highest acuity, or most serious, homeless residents cost the county $85,000 annually. It makes the $6,000 it might take to stabilize a resident’s finances over several months look like a bargain." 3️⃣ Imagine the impact possible if prevention programs were scaled nationwide. “I hope that people will look at what Santa Clara County and Destination: Home are doing and look at it as an example of something that others can emulate,” said Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities at Notre Dame's David Phillips. Together, we could ensure everyone maintains their housing and reduce homelessness. We MUST expand financial assistance programs like our county-wide #HomelessnessPreventionSystem and #GuaranteedIncome programs WHILE building more #AffordableHousing Read more at Bloomberg: https://lnkd.in/gsDnbjkM

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🏠One of the priorities for our updated housing strategy is increasing the supply of homes that people can afford, and tackling homelessness with an emphasis on early help. 📣Learn more and share your thoughts: https://lnkd.in/eGx6zGnS

The GPL’s Homelessness & Housing team is presenting at the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ annual conference (#NAEH2024). Join us on Tuesday, July 9 from 9:45 to 11:00 ET for our session “How Chicago Dug into Improving PSH Utilization” to learn how All Chicago Making Homelessness History (the Chicago CoC's lead organization) used the GPL’s diagnostic framework to increase successful Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) referrals. The session will also include a mini skills-building workshop. PSH is one of our communities’ most precious housing resources, and yet many jurisdictions struggle to maintain high occupancy. Connecting clients to PSH involves many stakeholders with diverse interests, and often relies on manual systems for tracking units and clients. The first step in improving complex PSH systems is to effectively diagnose challenges and understand where to prioritize improvements. In this session, attendees will learn how the GPL conducts diagnostic work to launch impactful solutions.

Impact for Equity strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson. Today’s ruling further criminalizes people experiencing homelessness by allowing local governments to penalize people for sleeping outside when they cannot access shelters or secure permanent housing. At Impact for Equity, we believe housing is a human right and the solution to the crisis of homelessness is more affordable housing, not criminalization. Today’s decision will aggravate the existing housing crises in cities across the country by legalizing the criminalization of homelessness at a time when the number of families experiencing homelessness on any given night is at an all-time high. Impact for Equity remains committed to addressing the root causes of housing instability and we will continue to fight for more affordable housing throughout metropolitan Chicago and Illinois. 

"The independent evaluation of Project Roomkey is out, and the verdict is in. It worked. As has been widely reported in the media, California’s Project Roomkey successfully provided emergency housing to 62,000 people experiencing homelessness after COVID-19 took hold." Read more about Project Roomkey in the latest post on The CHCF Blog: https://lnkd.in/gTBYxCh2

In case one needed more evidence that Housing First is a failure with catastrophic results, please read the attached article. Housing First is two things: 1. a repositioning from a continuum of options for all people to PSH for chronically homelessness only and 2. an eligibility screen that excludes children & PREVENTS PREVENTION and early intervention. We can - we must - restore the Awardwinning Continuum of Care.

Earlier this week, we headed to Lambeth Town Hall with other homelessness organisations and local authority representatives to share our solutions to the housing crisis that’s leaving young people unable to escape homelessness. The current housing system is broken, and our new research sheds a light on how government support simply doesn’t reflect the realities of finding a home if you’re a young person who has experienced homelessness. It’s time to act. Young people need housing security – and they need it now. That means more affordable homes, Local Housing Allowance that actually matches rising rents, and laws that protect vulnerable young people from discrimination by landlords and deal with the scourge of unsafe and unliveable homes. Read our new research: https://bit.ly/42pKAd3