In Tennessee, a law enacted by the Republican Legislature that goes into effect July 1 makes it a felony for homeless people to camp in parks and on other public property — a measure advocates say is “unprecedented.” In Colorado, meanwhile, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis recently signed into law two bills creating campuses where people can get help in their transition out of homelessness by supplying housing, mental health services and job training.

Tennessee made homeless camps a felony. Colorado is trying something else

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bizgrrl's picture

Heh. Don't you love it when

Heh. Don't you love it when major news media continues to pick up on stories negative to Tennessee?

“We tend to see communities reacting to all of that in one of two ways. One is with empathy and concern for their fellow citizens and residents who are losing their housing, while the other is to pretend that it’s their fault that they’re becoming homeless and to use the criminal justice and legal systems to deter behavior they think is bad," said Eric Tars, the legal director at the National Homeless Law Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit advocating for housing rights."

Whatta ya gonna say? We have Republican Bill Lee in charge in Tennessee with a majority of Republicans in the legislature. They don't care about mass shootings. They don't care about the homeless. They don't care about secondary education. What do they care about? Making money?

bizgrrl's picture

"A decade ago, Houston had

"A decade ago, Houston had one of the highest per capita homeless counts in the country."
...
"...they’ve gone all in on “housing first,” a practice, supported by decades of research, that moves the most vulnerable people straight from the streets into apartments, not into shelters, and without first requiring them to wean themselves off drugs or complete a 12-step program or find God or a job."
...
...."housing first involves a different logic: When you’re drowning, it doesn’t help if your rescuer insists you learn to swim before returning you to shore. You can address your issues once you’re on land. Or not."
...
"The number of people deemed homeless in the Houston region has been cut by 63 percent since 2011..."
...
"What started to bring about change was the passage in 2009 of the Hearth Act, which stipulated that, in order to receive federal dollars, cities had to adopt a “housing first” policy and, crucially, that homeless organizations had to work together in “continuums of care” under a single lead agency, coordinating their programs and sharing data. The federal government had recommended these continuums of care since 1994, but not until the Hearth Act was funding tied to specific metrics of effectiveness."

"Atlanta, too, was adrift until neighboring counties dropped out of a joint continuum and the city set up its own, modeling its approach on Houston’s. Atlanta has since cut its homeless numbers by 40 percent and gained increasing corporate support — a vital source of additional funding."
...
"In Houston, nearly three-quarters of those who have been rapidly rehoused remain housed afterward ..."

jbr's picture

Ceola Waddell's "Luxury" Homeless Encampment

jbr's picture

This could be the most beautiful homeless shelter

Traditional homeless shelters – often in gyms or warehouses – can be chaotic and cluttered spaces, with little privacy for families. So, Tuck worked with a local architect to create the first shelter in Oregon with trauma-informed design, which opened in 2019.

“It’s based on research done since the 1960s in hospitals, looking into what kinds of facilities promote better reactions among patients,” Tuck said. “Some of the key elements they’ve identified include having a connection to nature – lots of light, real plants indoors and outdoors – and building with natural materials, so we have lots of real wood. The color palette is also very calming – lots of greens and turquoises from the ocean.”

This could be the most beautiful homeless shelter you have ever seen, and it’s getting results

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