Thoughts about Improving the Homeless Crisis

[Recyclersteve]

Ok, I fully realize the homeless crisis is a mess and it would be virtually impossible to REALLY solve it. Part of that is that some people would rather live outside than inside and you can’t force them inside. There are also plenty of people who are mentally ill that could complicate things.

That said, let’s fantasize a bit. Let’s say that a handful of us became billionaires overnight (great inventions, lottery winners, etc.). So you suddenly have lots of money even after paying taxes and decide you want to do some real good for society, even if you lose $100-200 million of your own money.

What thoughts do you have about what could be done?

I envision some kind of homeless village with perhaps a 4-tier housing structure: D, C, B, and A.
D is the entry level home. All units are new, clean and well maintained. The D level units would be about 600-800 sqft. and have 1 bedroom and 1 bath. Each unit would get better and bigger until you got to A level units which would have 3 bedrooms and be 2,000-2,200 sqft.

D units are for those with no ambition who want free housing, but don’t want to really pay for anything. TV would be limited to only a few channels. The higher level units could be for those willing to work minimum wage jobs like washing dishes or mowing lawns. As people showed a desire to work say, 60 hours a week instead of the normal 40-hour full- time amount, they could be rewarded with nicer housing. They would also get computers and full blown cable TV. Key thing: There would be a reason to try hard.

What does everyone think? Impossible, even on a small scale or something that could potentially work decently in some areas.

[silverflake]

I like that you are thinking about trying to solve these problems Steve. I will say this though. It has been my experience in dealing with the homeless either in my life working in hospitals or coming across these folks when I fish the river here in town that the biggest hurdle to overcome isn't that they can't find a job (there's still plenty here) nor is it laziness (though there is a lot of "inertia" for some to overcome). The biggest issue has become mental illness. And in a country that had already been depressing it's population with destruction of family, constant eroding of US dollars value, housing becoming more and more unaffordable (I could go on) we then got hit with a pandemic where "the powers that be" deemed it necessary to lock us all in for months. The mental health of America (the world) suffered immensely and the homeless ranks swelled.

So, Steve your ideas are certainly intriguing and honorable. But somehow we have to figure out where mental health treatment fits in because it is a huge part of the homeless. I most certainly DO NOT have the answer.

Keep ideas flowing though. It's how change takes place.

[68Camaro]

I was reading the op as sf was replying. First step in addressing a problem is correctly understanding it, and as sf notes, the homeless problem is driven by mental illness of a myriad of types. There are exceptional cases of people falling on hard times due to a series of misfortunes, and they get publicity, but they aren't the bulk of the homeless.

I know one homeless person somewhat well, and through him know much about many others. That only means that I see the complexity of it; I do not claim to have any answer that broadly applies, and my view of the issue doesn't capture the whole problem. There are layers and levels to homelessness. The person I know has been given numerous opportunities and most people with a full set of faculties would have been able to use those to pull themselves out of their situation. He cannot. He makes incredibly poor decisions over and over. Underlying that is a mental illness. In past generations he would have been institutionalized, but those facilities have largely been eliminated.

So, all I can say is that it is a complex problem.

[TXSTARFIRE]

" All units are new, clean and well maintained." My guess is that the units would not stay that way for long. When you give someone something there is not much incentive to keep it clean and well maintained. Dont know the solution to the problem, but I dont think that giving someone something for free is the solution. My guess is that if something like what was suggested is tried there is suddenly going to be a lot more homeless folks, meaning why should you work if you dont have to. In the old days folks were too proud to take a handout, those days are long gone.

[Treetop]

This is about drugs dramatically more than mental illness. At least here we have shelters. You cant use drugs and such and stay there though. So they dont. As long as they arent very rural people who go homeless through no fault of their own have ways out. 95% of the rest are on drugs. Mental illness is the rest. Ive known several who work in these systems, my rough estimates are what it is around here anyway.

So as harsh as it sounds I think there are three main answers. Nearly stop the hard drugs. let the drugs flow so they die off. Or imprison them until it just becomes un desirable to crap in the streets and light fires wherever to stay warm. I guess we could have tiered shelters, where some let them be druggies. Others designed to build them up. But wouldnt change much besides youd see them less wandering the streets.

[Recyclersteve]

Very well thought out comments guys. Appreciate everything said.

I don’t like wasting a lot of time on something where I can’t make a reasonable difference. SOOOO, that said I’m gonna try and team up with Charles Schwab to teach financial literacy to teens in underserved areas. I plan on also discussing things with, say, a mid-30’s person with $10-20k in savings who is intimidated by the stock market. Pray for my success in these charitable endeavors.

[Lemon Thrower]

This is about drugs dramatically more than mental illness. At least here we have shelters.

You could build the best shelters but if there are no liquor stores or drug dealers nearby, they won't stay there.

Secondarily its mental health. A lot of the mental health problems get triggered after years of drug abuse, broken relationships (family, friends, jobs), etc. because those bonds are what keep your mind healthy and the substance use disorder destroys those bonds.

It gotten a lot worse recently. About 20+ years ago the scourge was cocaine and crack. Then Purdue Pharma put out oxycontin, a powerful, addictive opioid that they claimed was non-addicitve. Even straight laced guys like Rush Limbaugh got addicted. When you are wealthy like him you can shop around for sleazy docs who will write the scrip for you. Most others turned to heroin, and then fentanyl. The Chinese and Mexican cartels figured out that its a lot easier to get fentanyl and the precursors than cocaine (which relies on cocoa leaves grown in rural mountain jungles). The almost total lack of enforcement of a border has made things much worse, which is why fentanly is mostly a US problem and seen much less in Europe. A change in Presidents will help but the cartels have figured out that fentanyl and other even stronger synthetics are too easy and too lucrative. Worse, other drug dealers are mixing it with "party" drugs like cocaine or ecstasy because its cheaper for the dealer and makes the drug more powerful - the buyer doesn't know what he's buying and gets hooked.