Chastity suffered from severe trauma and paranoid disorder. She had spent over five years living on the streets, afraid to enter into shelters, instead she would visit emergency rooms to escape from the harsh weather outside. The housing first program was able to give her the home that she had always envisioned for herself. By receiving stable housing she was able to find the stability to work on her mental illnesses and substance abuse problems through the support services offered to her through the housing first program. Today she has been placed in a stable home for over three years and continues to help others by leading support groups for people in a similar situation as hers. Chastity was also able to open a nonprofit organization
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Homelessness is an ongoing issue that is difficult to fully understand due to its complexity and infinite factors. There are several reasons that people are experiencing homelessness all across America. One major reason is that a large percentage of the people living in homelessness need additional support and services, such as psychiatric or substance abuse treatment to get out of this living situation, and to sustain independent living. Our society needs to work together to find a way to end homelessness, one way is through the housing first initiative. The housing first initiative has a goal to provide independent housing to everyone in the homeless population, regardless of their psychological needs or substance abuse problems (Nicholls, & Atherton, 2011). Providing housing first to people who are chronically homeless would offer them their own space with affordable rent, a place to live independently to allow them care for themselves, and receive additional support to help them achieve their recovery …show more content…
According to the chart below (Figure 1) which shows the length of stay for stayers and leavers in transitional housing and emergency shelters the decrease was about 78 days. This information doesn’t state whether these individuals went to permanent housing or if they returned to homelessness. The stayers in transitional housing increased their length of stay during this time by 28 days. The ideal outcome would have been that there was a decrease as long as the individual were transferring to permanent housing (Polk County Dashboard, 2016). However, the people who stayed in the transitional housing were not back on the streets which is a positive step to ending homelessness. The chart also shows the length of stay for the stayers and leavers within the emergency shelters which stayed pretty much constant throughout the year because all of the shelters have an allotted amount of time that a person can stay there (Polk County Dashboard,
Homelessness is an ongoing issue that is difficult to fully understand due to its complexity and infinite factors. There are several reasons that people are experiencing homelessness all across America. One major reason is that a large percentage of the people living in homelessness need additional support and services, such as psychiatric or substance abuse treatment to get out of this living situation, and to sustain independent living. Our society needs to work together to find a way to end homelessness, one way is through the housing first initiative. The housing first initiative has a goal to provide independent housing to everyone in the homeless population, regardless of their psychological needs or substance abuse problems (Nicholls, & Atherton, 2011). Providing housing first to people who are chronically homeless would offer them their own space with affordable rent, a place to live independently to allow them care for themselves, and receive additional support to help them achieve their recovery …show more content…
According to the chart below (Figure 1) which shows the length of stay for stayers and leavers in transitional housing and emergency shelters the decrease was about 78 days. This information doesn’t state whether these individuals went to permanent housing or if they returned to homelessness. The stayers in transitional housing increased their length of stay during this time by 28 days. The ideal outcome would have been that there was a decrease as long as the individual were transferring to permanent housing (Polk County Dashboard, 2016). However, the people who stayed in the transitional housing were not back on the streets which is a positive step to ending homelessness. The chart also shows the length of stay for the stayers and leavers within the emergency shelters which stayed pretty much constant throughout the year because all of the shelters have an allotted amount of time that a person can stay there (Polk County Dashboard,