Fix Homelessness How to rebuild human lives

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little girl with paper family in hands. concept of divorce, custody and child abuse
Image Credit: ronstik - Adobe Stock

How Adverse Childhood Experiences Turn into Homelessness

Would you rather be rich or loved? Many of us might want to be both, but Rob Henderson, author of Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class, understands what's most important: "For happiness, it's better to be poor and loved than rich and unloved." Read More ›
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young homeless boy  crying on the bridge
Image Credit: Roman Bodnarchuk - Adobe Stock

Coming Out of Trouble

Rob Henderson’s Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class (Gallery Books, 2024) is well worth reading. I’ll give you two reasons Henderson’s life and book are not exceptional, then two reasons why they are. 1. Sad to say, Henderson’s background does not make his book exceptional these days. Mother: drug addict. Father: nowhere in sight. Number of foster care placements: ten, more than the national average of seven or eight. Once a child gets past three he often lives with dread, the word Henderson says best summarizes his feelings while growing up and sliding down. He dreads “suddenly being moved somewhere else. . . . The dread was sharp — I’d see an unfamiliar car outside or Read More ›

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Sad little boy alone in a dark room
Licensed via Adobe Stock

The Foster-Care-to-Homelessness Pipeline

Earlier this month I wrote about the regular Wednesday dinners for unhoused humans at the University Avenue church. This week I'll write about a Friday night fundraising dinner in a church gym four miles further north. The beneficiary: Safe Families for Children of Austin — one of a hundred Safe Family chapters in 30 states that try to keep children from having the traumatic experiences that contribute to the psychology of homelessness. Read More ›
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bunch of used dirty syringe leaved after drug injection lying on ground outdoor
Licensed via Adobe Stock

Seattle’s Community Assisted Suicide Policies Are Killing the Homeless

Last month the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of cities to enforce common sense laws which prohibit the homeless from sleeping in public spaces, such as parks or sidewalks where children play or families walk. It's almost absurd that the Court was forced to expend its limited resources adjudicating a controversy over whether such laws should be constitutional. Read More ›
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Men Lying On Beds In Homeless Shelter
Licensed via Adobe Stock

Could Shared Housing Help Curb Homelessness?

This week I'm writing about an unconventional man mostly ignored, Michael Ullman. My January 13, 2023 column examined his work, which grows out of his 25 years of experience in managing and researching homeless services, and his hundreds of conversations with people living in shelters and on the streets. He is still rowing against the current with his National Homeless Information Project. Read More ›
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Robert Marbut Discusses Grants Pass v. Johnson on [un]Divided with Brandi Kruse

On unDivided, hosted by Brandi Kruse, Robert Marbut discusses what Grants Pass v. Johnson means for cities and their homeless populations, what cities like Seattle and San Francisco need to do, and the importance of investing in treatment for mental illness and drug addiction, and the reality behind Housing First. Read More ›
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People support each other in a rehab session
Licensed via Adobe Stock

Community — Not Housing — First

Can people, laden with childhood traumas plus the hard experience of years of homelessness, overcome their pasts? On a Monday afternoon in May, I threw that question at Alan Graham, founder and CEO of Austin's Community First! Village (CFV), where close to 400 formerly homeless humans now live. Read More ›