Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • Enlisting Mental Health Workers, Not Cops, In Mobile Crisis Response

    The long-running CAHOOTS program, which replaces police with medics and social workers to respond to non-violent, non-criminal mental health crises, suicide threats, and problems stemming from homelessness, serves as a model for similar programs in the nationwide push to reimagine policing. CAHOOTS teams de-escalate crises at first simply because they are not armed police. They also take the time and have the training to calm situations and get people the help they need. Programs in Phoenix and Denver demonstrate how the idea plays out in larger cities.

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  • SEPTA is testing a new way to help people struggling with addiction on the system

    A pilot program in Philadelphia’s transit system is providing social services for people struggling with addiction. Loitering violations in and around SEPTA stations are on the rise in the wake of the pandemic, spurring the city to reach out to those experiencing homelessness and addiction instead of solely policing the vulnerable populations. The project will be implemented in several other stations around the city as well.

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  • In San Francisco, Help Hits the Streets with a Crisis Response Team

    Six San Francisco neighborhoods are now served by the city's Street Crisis Response Teams, which answer 911 calls for non-violent mental or behavioral health crises without police involvement. In its first two months in one neighborhood, the Tenderloin, the team handled 199 calls without any violent incidents or any need for police intervention. That led to the expansion to five more neighborhoods. The program is modeled on Eugene, Oregon's CAHOOTS project's street medics and counselors, but with an additional "peer specialist," someone with lived experience to counsel unhoused people on the streets.

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  • Homeless Oaklanders were tired of the housing crisis. So they built a ‘miracle' village

    A group of people experiencing homelessness have created Cob on Wood, a place where members can access free hot showers, food, shelter, clothing, books, a health clinic, gardens, and even an outdoor pizza oven. Most importantly, Cob on Wood provides a sense of community and dignity for the almost 300 unhoused people who live there. Local artists and organizations came together to create structures and provide the resources needed to bring the vision to reality.

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  • How Bakersfield, California Ended Chronic Homelessness

    Bakersfield became the first California city to all but abolish a category of homelessness using the Built for Zero campaign's tactics of combining the use of data with a sustained, communal effort. From 2017 to 2020, Bakersfield identified and then housed all but two of the 72 people it identified as chronically homeless. Working from lists of people, the Bakersfield Kern Regional Homeless Coalition met regularly to whittle down the caseload. The county housing authority helped by leasing a bloc of eight units to sublet, easing landlord worries about dealing directly with people experiencing homelessness.

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  • A Canadian study gave $7,500 to homeless people. Here's how they spent it.

    A lump sum of $7,500 was handed out to people experience homelessness in Vancouver as an experiment. The results show that recipients benefitted by accessing stable housing faster and eventually achieving financial stability sooner, in addition to spending less money on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

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  • Vaccines and shelter for the unhoused in Montreal

    A nonprofit day shelter, Resilience Montreal, partnered with public health officials to provide vaccines to members of the indigenous community who are experiencing homelessness. Vaccinations were provided without the need for appointments or identification cards in Montreal. Advocates are calling for more permanent solutions for housing amid a rising need since the onset of the pandemic.

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  • Cornerstone Baptist Church is launching a grocery store to address food insecurity in South Dallas

    Cornerstone Baptist Church is spearheading the redevelopment of Struggs’ Cornerstone Heights Neighborhood. In 2019, the church opened a laundromat and bike shop and last year the Cornerstone Community Kitchen began serving free hot meals to locals experiencing homelessness. The Church is soon launching a community market where local residents can access fresh, affordable food.

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  • Outreach officers treat homelessness as a symptom, not a crime

    Tucson Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team operates on the premise that even though many want to see police excluded from any role in dealing with homelessness, residents still call 911 and demand a police response. So the team, working with the city's homeless services counselors, can usually turn such contacts into an offer of help. Its officers are trained more and have more time than patrol officers to talk to people and determine their needs. Tucson's unhoused population surged in 2020, and police helped hundreds get housed or get other services without resorting to arrests and jail.

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  • A Solution to Ending Homelessness Might Be in the Data

    Built for Zero is a data-driven approach to ending homelessness with a proven track record of success. The strategy is scalable and takes into account variables within different communities. It aims to bring homelessness rates down to “functional zero,” which means that the number of people experiencing homelessness is low enough that they can all be housed if they wanted.

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