Issue Position: Addressing Homelessness

Issue Position

As the Chair of Wellspring Family Services' Associate Board we work on issues of family homelessness with a goal of housing 2,000 kids and their families in the next two years. What I've learned from this experience is we can't treat homelessness like a monolith. Family homelessness is different than homelessness due to opioid addiction which is different than mental health issues. We need policy that is appropriate for different causes of homelessness. Also, it is 3x cheaper to keep people housed when compared with getting people out of homelessness. We need to invest in human services to stem the flow of people becoming homeless. Also, our policy needs to reflect that police officers, firefighters and first responders are on the front-lines when dealing with this crisis. Tackling this issue should include their voices and we must invest in the human capital needed to solve this problem which includes compensation and equipment.

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