Fix Homelessness How to rebuild human lives

Blog | Page 4

Seattle overregulation (2)

Tenant Violence Threatens Region’s Housing Providers

Just last week, a 19-year-old tenant allegedly stabbed her 73-year-old landlord to death. The murder took place in an apartment in White Center, a neighborhood south of Seattle. According to a news report, the landlord asked the tenant about unpaid rent before being stabbed twice. The suspect told authorities that her landlord struck her in the face and admitted to the stabbing one the phone with a 911-operator. Incidents like this are not representative of the vast majority of tenants, but they are not anomalies either. At an apartment community in Tacoma, an angry resident attempted to grab a hammer from a grounds-maintenance cart in an act of aggression towards a maintenance technician. According to an incident report, the resident Read More ›

a-teenage-boy-who-ran-away-from-home-scared-stands-alone-on-671715926-stockpack-adobe_stock
a teenage boy who ran away from home, scared, stands alone on the platform,
Image Credit: Наталья Лазарева - Adobe Stock

The Winding Path of Homeless Youth

Last week I wrote about Rebecca Gomez’s criticism of foster care. She accurately notes that “a large proportion of foster children will find themselves homeless upon exiting care. The majority do not attend college; do not have stable housing; do not obtain employment that provides a living wage; do not own a car; have never managed money.” Even if they’re not yanked from house to house, Gomez writes that foster children are “surrounded by treatment professionals including foster parents, case managers, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and special education departments. . . . They must gain the[ir] approval . . . to drive a car; take a trip out of state with their foster family; visit a sibling; participate in a contact Read More ›

nathan-dumlao-i__uqGnARyI-unsplash (1)

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

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 supportive housing without treatment requirements. Report co-author Dr. Robert Marbut, former Director of the U.S. Read More ›

magic-lamp-glowing-in-the-dark-with-mysterious-aura-magic-la-896668938-stockpack-adobe_stock
Magic lamp glowing in the dark with mysterious aura, magic, lamp, dark, glowing, mysterious, aura, genie, wish, mystery

The Aladdin Factor: Why Troubled Kids Fare Better Than Foster Kids

Aladdin, you may remember from the Disney movie, calls himself a "street rat" and knows how to survive amid homelessness. He is competent. He has "agency," the belief that he can act to improve his circumstances. That mindset is different from what former foster child Rob Henderson describes in his good memoir, Troubled. Read More ›
male-isolated-homeless-wearing-a-brown-hat-sitting-on-the-pe-319520382-stockpack-adobe_stock
Male isolated homeless wearing a brown hat sitting on the pedestrian.
Image Credit: Олександр Цимбалюк - Adobe Stock

“Homelessness in America”: Stephen Eide’s Eye on Reality

My third and last book to recommend this month is Stephen Eide's Homelessness in America: The History and Tragedy of an Intractable Social Problem (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). Read More ›
typical-buildings-in-soho-in-new-york-stockpack-adobe-stock-239267836-stockpack-adobe_stock
Typical buildings in Soho in New York

Inequity and Iniquity in Manhattan Housing

In 2015, the May 15 cover of New York Magazine ran this headline: "New York Real Estate Is the New Swiss Bank Account: Foreigners are flooding the market to stash, hide, and sometimes launder their money." That intrigued me, because I had done some research into Manhattan condos selling for $20 million and up. Read More ›
young-depressed-homeless-girl-or-woman-standing-alone-under-389256990-stockpack-adobe_stock
Young depressed homeless girl or woman standing alone under the bridge on the street on the cold weather feeling anxious abandoned and freezing selective focus

The Homeless Mascots of “the Anointed”

Sowell wrote that homeless individuals often became "mascots of the anointed." Sleeping-on-the-streets miseries "enable the anointed to score points against a benighted society." Sowell wrote about requests that homeless advocates receive: "We need a witness for a hearing. Can you get us a homeless family: mother, father — father out of work in the past four months from an industrial plant — white?" Read More ›