People experiencing homelessness need stable housing. In Houston and New Orleans, practitioners have designed homelessness response systems that prioritize housing over shelter stays. These systems also include other services.
In this episode, we hear from Next City’s Housing Correspondent Roshan Abraham, who explains the “Housing First” approach to ending homelessness. “It’s the philosophy that whatever crisis an unhoused person is facing, step one for getting that person into a more stable living situation,” he says. After that comes all the additional support that they need to stay housed — whether that’s medical care, addiction treatment, counseling or any other assistance.
“It’s hard to address those other problems if you don’t have stable housing. If you don’t have a fixed address, it’s hard to make it to appointments for whatever kind of program is going to better you in life,” Abraham adds.
Additionally, Toni Benson-Atkinson, director of outreach and coordinated access at the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County, joins the show. While Houston hasn’t fully solved homelessness, it has made huge strides.
To learn more about the “Housing First” model and Houston’s strategy for getting people off the streets and into housing, listen to this episode below or subscribe to the Next City podcast on Apple, Spotify, or Goodpods.
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