Fix Homelessness | How to rebuild human lives

Is Housing a Human Right?

_{Caitlyn McKenney
February 4, 2025
67
Housing}

The U.S. Constitution establishes life, liberty and property as unalienable rights but makes no room for a human right to the provision of housing.

Discovery Releases New Data and Policy Approach for Seattle’s Homelessness Crisis

_{Discovery Institute
November 7, 2024
2
Homelessness}

Download the Report. Discovery Institute Releases New Homelessness Data and Policy Approach for Seattle Seattle, WA- If the growth rate of unsheltered homelessness in King County remains unchanged, the population experiencing unsheltered homelessness will double from nearly 10,000 to a staggering 20,000 in less than three years. A new report from Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness Initiative offers policy recommendations and new data to address the crisis. A study performed by Discovery Institute found that 49.7% of people experiencing homelessness and enrolled in Seattle programs first began experiencing homelessness outside of King County. Data also reveals a dramatic redistribution of funding away from emergency and transitional beds towards permanent …

Homeless Does Not Mean Helpless

_{Marvin Olasky
April 25, 2025
4
Homelessness}

Sticking a homeless person into an apartment without requiring anything from him is a bad idea not only because idle hands often turn to drugs, alcohol, or other mischief. It’s also a bad idea because not requiring work that a person can do is treating him as sub-human. Here it’s important to understand the biblical concept of labor, both before and after the traumatic events in the Garden of Eden. If work were something that had to be done only because of man’s sin and fall from grace, then we would be right to treat it as something to be endured only until “Miller time” arrives — but Genesis 2:15 (pre-fall) tells how “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Adam had a good combination …

Good Friday Reminds Us to Suffer With the Homeless

_{Marvin Olasky
April 18, 2025
4
Homelessness}

Today is Good Friday. Nearly two thousand years ago it seemed a very bad Friday. Jesus, as the Apostles Creed puts it, “was crucified, died, and was buried.” God turned bad into good, as He regularly does. Romans 5:8 in the New Testament declares, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christians are supposed to get used to bad/good Fridays. Communist-turned-Christian Whittaker Chambers wrote, “a man can scarcely call himself a Christian for whom the crucifixion is not a daily suffering.” The idea of “suffering with” homeless people and others in danger (the literal meaning of compassion) is central in Christianity because it was central in the life of Christ. It’s humiliating to be …

Warm-Hearted, Tough-Minded Compassion: An Interview with Bob Coté

_{Marvin Olasky
April 11, 2025
5
Homelessness}

Next month I’ll lay out my upcoming book on homelessness, but the book will only make sense if you understand the process of Step 13 and Springs Rescue Mission that I’ve laid out in this first quarter of the year — so here’s part of an interview I did with Bob Coté 16 years ago. Olasky: Does the step-by-step process to moving upstairs and getting a better room really work? Coté: They want to get up there. I have 12 full-time employees, but really I have 52, because I have 40 people with a year or even two years of residence and they take ownership of Step 13. They’ll say, “Hey, we don’t write on the walls here,” and the one time they did, I nailed all the bathrooms shut and told them to walk to the Greyhound Station. Olasky: Nailed …

Zenger Prizes: Honoring Good Reporting on Helping the Homeless

_{Marvin Olasky
April 9, 2025
2
Homelessness}

Three years ago, I began writing my Human Lives column about homelessness on the Discovery Institute website. I’ll be concluding that series at the end of next month, but I’d like Discovery Institute supporters to know about some prizes announced today that will hearten those concerned about journalism, homelessness, or both. Over the years, The New York Times editorially has supported neither Intelligent Design nor the intelligent design of programs to help homeless individuals. Nor is the Times accustomed to getting awards from Christian organizations — but Christian groups that fight homelessness are equally unaccustomed to getting positive stories in the Times. That’s why a story by reporter Jason DeParle four days before Thanksgiving last year was …

Remembering a Pioneer: Bob Coté

_{Marvin Olasky
April 4, 2025
4
Homelessness}

This year I’ve written about what I learned in Colorado Springs at the Springs Rescue Mission. But when I stayed there last year, I also thought of the pioneer who, starting in 1983, built a predecessor of SRM just up the highway in Denver. His name: Bob Coté, a six-foot-three-inch ex-amateur boxer who in his forties changed his life by not drinking his usual half gallon of vodka for lunch. Instead, he poured out the bottle’s contents and became in 1983 one of the original residents of a new program, Step 13. Bob became Director of Operation and then Executive Director, pouring what he had learned as a homeless alcoholic into a program that challenged rather than coddled men seen as hopeless. I met Bob in 1995 when his shelter on Larimer Street (two blocks from where …

⋮ More Articles

Street Report

from Jonathan Choe

Knife-Wielding Teenagers Chasing Homeless Man in Viral Video Identified by Grandmother

_{Jonathan Choe
April 14, 2025
2
Homelessness}

Breaking The foster grandmother of Tyshawn and Marcelles Orr says her boys are the ones seen in a disturbing video released this morning by @SEATTLESUBMISS. It shows Tyshawn (red hoody) chasing a homeless man with a knife. Marcelles (black hoody) is the one with a massive afro. What led up to all this is unclear. NEW: Seattle's Little Saigon neighborhood remains a magnet for violence. Look at this thug pull a knife and chase a homeless dude near 12th Ave and Jackson St. No cops in sight. Would you visit this part of the city? @MayorofSeattle pic.twitter.com/784CxKDTYu— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) April 14, 2025 Not Our First Run-In with Marcelles Orr If the name Marcelles Orr sounds familiar, that’s because he’s the young man who chased me …

Governor Bob Ferguson Answers Questions About Homelessness Response

_{Jonathan Choe
April 1, 2025
1
Homelessness}

New I finally had an opportunity to ask Governor Bob Ferguson about Washington’s homeless crisis and the possibility of more federal funding cuts impacting the state’s response. Ferguson didn’t say policies like “Housing First” would be shelved. But he did double down the need for more fiscal responsibility and emphasized the importance of shoring up a “rainy day” fund. …

Oakland Residents Demand Accountability and Change

_{Jonathan Choe
March 28, 2025
4
Governance}

We are on the ground in Oakland, CA and some neighborhoods are an absolute disaster. A sense of lawlessness overwhelms the streets. But Seneca Scott is leading a movement that could help bring in a new mayor and turn around this failing city. Imagine dealing with the worst homeless crisis in the Bay area, crime spiraling out of control, and a public school system in shambles. This is a daily reality for Oakland, California. Certain neighborhoods are packed with visible poverty and overrun by a culture of lawlessness. Gun violence and robberies recently forced the beloved In-N-Out Burger to close its only restaurant in Oakland. The Defund the Police Movement fueled by far-left activists has led to a shortage of officers. And making matters worse, this city’s …

Lexus Driver Shoots BB Gun at Ballard Homeless Encampment

_{Jonathan Choe
March 23, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

Violence at Encampment Vigilante justice continues in Seattle after the city fails to remove a problematic homeless encampment in Ballard. Sunday afternoon, witnesses say a man driving a silver Lexus pointed a gun out his window and unloaded several shots at drug addicts camping on the Leary Triangle. But cops say it was actually a BB gun and the shooter got away. The entire area remains overrun by RV’s and tents. These are the same people who reject shelter and services. Mayor Bruce Harrell and councilmember Dan Strauss must stay on top of the sweeps. #BREAKING: Happening right now, D5 Seattle City Council candidate Tye Reed along with Stop the Sweeps Seattle are moving homeless people to the Leary Triangle in Ballard, completely undercutting Mayor Bruce …

Police Respond to “Drug Deal Gone Bad” In Front of Homeless Non-Profit

_{Jonathan Choe
March 21, 2025
1
Crime, Law, and Order}

Breaking Friday afternoon, massive police response to what law enforcement sources call a “drug deal gone bad” in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. Witnesses say the man in dreadlocks stabbed a woman in the temple over a hit of crack at the corner of 3rd Ave and Blanchard St. Victim was transported to the hospital. Suspect was apprehended at the scene and put into an ambulance. Another witness said, “cops barbecued and bean bagged his a**.” This is the latest troubling incident to happen right in front of the problematic REACH homeless non-profit headquarters. This area is one of the worst crime hot spots in the city due to the clientele REACH attracts and enables. …

Drug and Mental Health Crisis Out of Control Outside Seattle McDonald’s

_{Jonathan Choe
March 21, 2025
1
Drug Epidemic}

McStabby’s If you want to see Seattle’s failure to handle the drug and mental health crisis, just go to 3rd Ave & Pine St in downtown. Within five minutes, I saw dozens of people smoking fentanyl, a woman yelling at random people, and a dude trying to sell stolen skin care products. And yes, McDonald’s is indeed nicknamed “McStabby’s” due to the inordinate amount of crime at this corner. The fast food giant only allows walk-up service. The current plan is not working. …

⋮ More Reports

Restorations Podcast

Brian Chandler’s Journey from Addiction to Service

_{9
Caitlyn McKenney
March 26, 2025}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Brian Chandler of Seattle's Union Gospel Mission.

Homelessness CEO Spends 24 Hours Unsheltered in Seattle

_{8
Caitlyn McKenney
February 26, 2025}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by Kim Cook the CEO of Bread of Life Mission in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square.

Addiction Treatment Should Look Like This

_{7
Art Dahlen
December 5, 2024}

In this episode of Restorations, Caitlyn McKenney is joined by the founder of Battlefield Addiction Art Dahlen. As a former addict, Art shares personal insights on addiction treatment, the policy environment in Seattle, and the power of language.

Our Mission

Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative offers innovative research and compassionate solutions to the growing crisis of homelessness, addiction, and mental illness facing many American cities. Our mission is to serve as a resource for policy leaders, business owners, and neighborhood organizations trying to meaningfully reduce homelessness and to help those suffering realize their full human potential.

Support Our Work

Jim Palmer of the Orange County Rescue Mission on causes and cures for America’s homelessness crisis

_{8
Jim Palmer
November 1, 2021}

In this episode of Humanize, Wesley J. Smith speaks with Jim Palmer, the president of the Orange County Rescue Mission about the many causes and potential cures of America’s seemingly intractable homeless crisis. It is a crucial, if disturbing, conversation that touches upon the most existential needs of people and our mutual responsibilities to each other. Homelessness has reached crisis proportions in which even our most prosperous cities — such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — witness thousands of people living in squalid tent encampments lining streets that provide scant shelter for people that many of us would rather ignore. It’s all such a mess, it is tempting to throw up one’s hands in despair. But understanding the causes of homelessness is …

Robert Marbut on America’s Homelessness Crisis, Strategies for Uplifting the Homeless, and Effective Government Policies

_{29
Robert Marbut
May 23, 2022}

Homelessness has reached crisis proportions. Few issues of human dignity are as heart wrenching as the wretched scenes in our most prosperous cities — San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle — where one can drive down main thoroughfares and be confronted with tent encampments lining streets that provide scant shelter for thousands of destitute people. The crisis is as multifaceted as it is seemingly intractable. What is the role of mental illness in the crisis? What about drug addiction? Is the rising cost of housing part of the problem, and if so, what can be done about it? What protections does society owe these vulnerable people based simply on their humanity and what responsibilities, if any, do they owe to greater society? It’s all such a mess, it is tempting to …

[not] anything helps

Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness Initiative pairs journalism with research on homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Our mission is to help city leaders, service organizations, and business owners meaningfully reduce homelessness and improve lives.

Resources

National Report

“Housing First” — and often only — has demonstrably failed. Congress and the Executive Branch must shift the focus onto untreated mental illness and substance abuse to reduce homelessness, drug overdoses, jail overcrowding, and misuse of emergency rooms. Herein we make policy recommendations to Congress to truly help rebuild human lives.

Get the National Report

Legal Guide

We have created a legal guide for cities to maintain compliance with the Martin v Boise decision. The guide outlines best practices for compliance and provides models for successful ordinances that balance enforcement, housing, and legal requirements. The guide is written by Joseph Tartakovsky, attorney for the City of Boise in the Martin v Boise case.

Get the Legal Guide

Case Studies

We have created case studies of cities that have delivered cost-effective and rapid results on homelessness. We’ll show you how San Diego built an emergency shelter and moved 700 people off the streets, how Burien eliminated camping in public parks, and how Modesto reduced quality-of-life crimes associated with homelessness by 83 percent — all within 60 days.

Get the Case Studies