Housing Forward’s Post

https://lnkd.in/gDkxNy_F I am grateful and beyond privileged to announce I have been selected to receive an all-expense paid trip to San Francisco next March to attend the National Alliance to End Homelessness Innovations and Solutions Conference. All travel arrangements, lodging, registration, food expenses, and transportation provided! I wrote an essay about homelessness. It basically explained that Arizona(after the 2008 foreclosure crisis) failed to build single-family homes to match population growth. Then we promoted a tax-break system to attract revenue through corporate interest development. Population doubled in ten years. That created a society too expensive to live in, while economists’ voices were drowned out by petty politics and political powergrabs focused on the velocity of money. We caused homelessness by being short-sighted yet drive around and look down upon it as a behavior problem. Meanwhile, grandma is on the sidewalk with her walker because she got priced out of her apartment(for the first time in her life). We task police to target homeless people when we should be solving homelessness. Add in a pandemic and a $30B fentanyl industry at the southern border and we have in Maricopa County 12,000 homeless people, rampant overdoses, 765 heat-related deaths every year, a 25% annual increase in the unsheltered population & 290,000 single-family homes short of what we need while we run out of water! THE POLICY DOESN’T MATCH THE PROBLEM! Maricopa County houses 1200 people a year with HUD subsidies while 700+ die in the sweltering heat. It’s a legislative problem causing a “stick” without a “carrot” situation and suppressing peoples’ intrinsic motivations…😞 Top it off with a billion-dollar AHCCCS FBI fraud investigation, and you have the fastest growing homeless crisis in the United States alongside the worst massive billing-fraud in Arizona history. #disposablepeople #housingfirst #SUDtreatment #Structuralviolence Director Townsend in Washington D.C. sends a letter saying, “Congratulations- you’re going to San Francisco!”… 😳

🏠 Addressing homelessness is a moral imperative -- This week, I had the privilege of attending a legislative briefing at the RI state house, where the urgency of addressing homelessness was underscored by passionate advocates and representatives. A key takeaway was the undeniable strain felt across our state due to the rising number of unhoused individuals, regardless of income bracket. The ripple effects touch every aspect of our community, from increased pressure on essential services to the heartbreaking reality of families, including children, sleeping on the streets due to insufficient shelter beds. The message was clear: housing is a basic right, and it's imperative that we invest in solutions now. Every budget cut has a human impact, hindering the progress we've worked so hard to achieve. Let's not falter in our efforts. Together, we can make a difference and ensure that every member of our community has a place to call home. #EndHomelessness #CommunitySupport #InvestInHousing 🏡✨ View the briefing here: https://lnkd.in/eH9YEK6X

Housing Justice organizers demanded and won tenant protections in 2023 that significantly stemmed the tide of evictions in LA, but the work continues to keep Angelenos housed. As Liberty Hill Foundation partner organization Eastside LEADS shared, “We are doing this work to prevent homelessness, to keep families in our communities, to stop displacement. But it is happening.” Read this Los Angeles Times article to learn more about the frontline work to address LA’s housing crisis. libhill.co/lat-evictions24 #LibertyHill #ICYMI #HousingJustice

We fundamentally reject the #SCOTUS's decision on #JohnsonVGrantsPass today which effectively denies people the right to sleep and criminalizes homelessness. The fact that so many people are living outside in our country is a true societal failure, and now we are making it that much harder for those who are suffering on our streets to simply survive. Every human being has a right to exist in our community, and we cannot exclude people, nor treat people differently, based on their housing status. Our public spaces should remain safe, healthy and welcoming environments for all members of our community - including people experiencing homelessness. The carceral and punitive approaches that may come out of this ruling are not only inhumane, but they have already proven to be ineffective and only serve to perpetuate cycles of homelessness. Today, we are calling on our elected leaders to reject this decision and instead invest more deeply in the housing and prevention strategies that we know are the only true solution to the crisis on our streets. 

🚨 A small Oregon town’s homeless crisis is front and center in a landmark Supreme Court case. The ruling, set for April 22, could reshape how cities across the U.S. handle homelessness. This isn’t just a legal debate—it’s about protecting the constitutional rights of those without shelter. Pathways to Housing PA and 36 other organizations have signed onto an amicus brief filed by CSH, the Source for Housing Solutions, supporting the Ninth Circuit's decision to uphold the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting communities from fining or arresting people for merely sleeping outside when they have no access to shelter. The decision will have ripple effects nationwide, impacting thousands who struggle with homelessness. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/eunfNesp

I am (sadly) unsurprised by the Supreme Court's recent decision here. But it is a particularly hideous and cruel reaction in the face of a widening wealth gap, affordable housing crisis, overdose crisis, banning equity and inclusion practices, anti-queer legislation...the list goes on and on. I've done a lot of advocacy and work with unhoused people over the years and can tell you that individual people choose to sleep outside for any number of reasons: lack of shelter beds, lack of safety, shelter rules that make it impossible for people who use drugs to enter the shelter, no community support...again, the list goes on and on. But it really boils down to systemic failures like lack of supportive housing, lack of affordable housing, lack of transitional housing, and shelters/warming centers etc that do not have the staffing capacity to meet the unique needs of people with complex trauma. The failure is on our poorly designed systems, not on individual people working in various parts of this broken system, and certainly not on individual people doing what they can to survive (is sleep not a basic human right?). I feel lucky to live in a community that is doing a lot to care for the needs of unhoused people and lucky to work alongside tireless advocates who care deeply about the needs of this population but not everyone is so lucky. This ruling will have ripple effects that will further malign an already stigmatized population that (rightfully) distrusts the many systems they must engage with in order to access care, a place to sleep, and so many other basic needs. I realize I'm (mostly) preaching to the choir by sharing these imperfectly formed thoughts with my network, but I encourage people to show up in your communities to advocate for the needs of unhoused people and see what your community is doing to provide services for unhoused people. It matters because unhoused people matter and do not deserve to be criminalized for poverty. Most of us are closer to homelessness than we are to millionaire status and I encourage us all to see this is OUR fight. We have to be in it together. https://lnkd.in/eJZ3yZmG

Volunteers of America-Greater New York (VOA-GNY) condemns in the strongest possible terms last week’s Supreme Court ruling upholding the constitutionality of laws that criminalize sleeping in public spaces even when there is a lack of shelter. Policies that criminalize poverty and homelessness do nothing to prevent poverty or homelessness. Instead, they make it even harder for individuals and families to break the cycle of poverty by negatively impacting their freedom, mental and physical health, and ability to work and find housing. Housing is a human right. VOA-GNY is proud to be a provider of both temporary and affordable housing in New York City, where people have a right to shelter. In our 128 years working with individuals and families in need, we’ve seen the life-changing, life-saving impact of access to safe shelter and affordable housing. More than half of Americans are just one missed paycheck from homelessness. This looming crisis is especially dire in areas like New York, where the cost of living is skyrocketing, the cost of housing is increasing more rapidly than inflation, and the housing vacancy rate is just 1.4 percent. This ruling serves as a wake-up call for New York, which must fulfill its commitments to building affordable housing and aggressively defend its right to shelter. It is our moral obligation—and VOA-GNY’s mission—to continue to provide support to those in our communities who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. Read the statement on our website here: https://lnkd.in/eEvj4Mmw #JohnsonVGrantsPass #HousingNotHandcuffs #HousingIsAHumanRight

It is hard not to feel dejected with the #SCOTUS #JohnsonVGrantsPass decision yesterday. But I am hopeful this will bring about more passionate advocacy, compassion from government leaders who know this is the wrong decision, and an opportunity to make some real progress in the fight to end homelessness. We can make instances of homelessness brief and non-recurring. We can help folks obtain and maintain safe, secure, and affordable housing. Homelessness is a policy failure. #housingforall #housingjustice

In a recent ruling that has sent shockwaves through our community, the Grants Pass court decision stands as a stark reminder of the potential long-term damage that can result from misguided legal actions. The decision to criminalize certain behaviors not only fails to address the root causes of complex social and health problems but also threatens to undo the hard-won progress made in reducing stigma, restoring dignity, and educating our society. By choosing punitive measures over compassionate and holistic solutions, the Grants Pass ruling risks perpetuating cycles of harm and exclusion that only serve to deepen existing social divides. Criminalization often exacerbates the very issues it seeks to address, pushing vulnerable individuals further into the margins of society and hindering their access to essential support systems and resources. Unfortunately, the fallout from this decision is not limited to the immediate impact on those directly affected by the ruling. It has the potential to erode the trust and collaboration built between local communities and justice systems. Prioritizing punishment over rehabilitation and support, we risk alienating those in need and further entrenching harmful stereotypes and biases. Let this ruling serve as a wake-up call to the dangers of short-sighted and punitive approaches to social issues. I stand firm in my commitment to building a more inclusive and equitable society, one that values the dignity and well-being of all its members. Two steps backwards doesn't mean I won't still take one step forward. #GrantsPassRuling

Civil Engineers need to be rallying against the oppression that is being placed on our unhoused communities. American engineers regularly apply their problem-solving skills to improving the human condition and quality of life. But when it comes to one of the most pressing social problems in the nation’s cities—our homeless population. The most visible examples of Civil Engineering are often ones that deprive these individuals of comfortable places to rest and sleep. These range from “no-sit benches” that you can only lean against to strategically placed rocks embedded in flat surfaces to the use of uncomfortable material to fences put up to block homeless encampments. Daily impediments reinforce what some unhoused people see as a callous attitude on the part of authorities and engineers who work under their lead.