Michele Steeb appeared on NTD News and spoke with host Don Ma about the recent tragic killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. Steeb addresses the relationship between homelessness, mental illness, and crime, and explains why housing subsidies do not fix these issues. Steeb speaks from her experience running a Northern California program for homeless women and children.
It’s Not About Housing Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood is turning into another human dumping ground. Seven Hills Park is covered with more than a dozen tents. Lots of couples in their 20’s with dogs running wild. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez is doing outreach this weekend but says this is the “service resistant” crowd. People are turning down services from the city and nothing is being done about it. Don’t believe the homeless industrial complex when they say all these people just need housing. One guy here has a tiny house but comes back to pitch a tent to hang out with his homies. Another fella can go home but has to address his drug addiction. Once again, the root Read More ›
Michele Steeb appeared on NTD News with host Don Ma to discuss President Trump’s federal takeover of Washington, D.C., including the removal of homeless encampments. Steeb explains why it’s critical to address homelessness in D.C., the relationship between homelessness and crime, and why relocating the homeless outside of D.C. might be beneficial. She also discusses what effective treatment looks like for those homeless suffering from addiction and/or mental illness.
Dr. Robert Marbut, a former federal homelessness official, said on Newsmax Saturday that President Donald Trump’s new executive order marks a turning point by reversing policies in Democrat-led cities that he believes have enabled drug use while neglecting treatment. Marbut, former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, voiced strong support for President Donald Trump’s July 24 executive order targeting homelessness, addiction, and public disorder. Appearing on “The Count,” Marbut said the order is a needed correction to policies in many Democrat-controlled cities, which he claims have made it “easy to get high and hard to get treatment.” “What President Trump’s executive order does it start to make it easy to get treatment and hard to get high,” Read More ›
“Today marks the beginning of the end of Housing First as the federal government’s one-size-fits-all—and failed—approach to homelessness.” Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” marking a pivotal shift in federal homelessness policy. Following a decade of failure under our nation’s one-size-fits-all approach to homelessness—Housing First—the president’s move is a long-overdue course-correction rooted in hope, healing, and human dignity. To understand its gravity, we must first confront the promise—and profound failure—of the policy he will begin replacing. In 2013, President Barack Obama pledged to end homelessness within 10 years by embracing Housing First, a model that promised stability through life-long, subsidized housing, with no requirement to address underlying challenges like Read More ›
Lost to Drugs The street crisis in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood is being fueled by drugs and mental illness. Some of the city funded non-profits like REACH and Plymouth Housing also have a presence in this neighborhood. Critics say their clients are the ones running wild on the streets and causing most of the problems. Late Tuesday evening, Andrea Suarez of We Heart Seattle tried to help a woman undressing on the sidewalk. But she was lost in her drug-induced mania.
Breaking Seattle Police just busted one of the most notorious homeless vandals in the Belltown neighborhood. He’s accused of going on a window smashing spree this week on Cedar Ave. He’s also believed to be a suspect in other vandalism incidents in the area. Neighbors say he’s clearly dealing with drug addiction and mental illness. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez says she’s seen this guy before and has tried to help. The same group of repeat offenders keep running around the city causing problems.
We Heart Seattle’s “Recovery First” Model is Working Seattle voters say the homeless drug crisis remains a top three issue. But the Harrell administration is still engaged in a game of Whack-a-Mole and has failed to find long-term solutions. That’s because they’re not addressing the drivers of this humanitarian disaster which include drug addiction, mental illness, and broken relationships. Instead, city officials are touting the wrong metrics for success such as the number of tents removed from the streets. Meanwhile, We Heart Seattle’s “recovery first” intervention model is working. And they’re outreach workers have identified some new patterns that are keeping so many people in this vicious cycle. I followed them in this Center on Wealth & Poverty mini-documentary.
Caitlyn McKenney reacts to data shared by the Mayor of Normandy Park WA that shows the role of addiction and mental illness in homelessness. This data should inform policymakers in Washington as they consider a bill that would make it easier to sue cities for restricting public camping.
Two weeks ago I noted how Colorado Springs city officials a decade ago handed a $3 million federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant to Springs Rescue Mission (SRM) leaders. Later, City Hall gave $3 million more. That was because SRM, an explicitly Christian organization, was ready to help homeless wanderers in Colorado Springs, and no one else was ready. Strict church-state separationists didn’t like it, but city housing executive Steve Posey noted that the HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) contract detailed public benefits: “SRM would build a commercial kitchen; they would build an overnight shelter for several hundred people; they would build a day center with showers and laundry facilities. Nowhere in those contracts, or any ongoing contracts Read More ›