It's difficult for me to understand the NGOs and activists who think they are making the world a better place when faced with these results.
Residentially challenged
It's definitely one of the language changes that seems to be six of one, half a dozen of the other, but I'm very interested in homeless issues so I'd welcome anyone who wants to sincerely discuss homeless policy.
“Unhoused” implies they have had their homes taken away from them through no fault of their own.
Meh. That doesn't seem like very serious first salvo in the discussion about the issue.
Too unwieldy, IMO.
We all know homelessness in and of itself isn’t the issue.
Yeah, it is a mouthful. But I'm willing to take the hit if it helps. I agree with the emphasis on people though. That would be a step in the right direction, but it's not what happens in practice. One of the big challenges in addressing this issue is getting the people themselves to see themselves as people that have value to society (and that society has value to them). There's a lot of work in that, but one small part can be how we talk about them. Another big challenge is that it takes a lot of resources and the success rate isn't spectacularly high in terms of getting people off the street permanently.
One of the huge challenges on the issue is that each person's journey to experiencing homelessness has its unique facets. There are typically multiple reasons combined - some of the ones you note above plus things like physical and sexual abuse, lack of education, economic instability (duh), and issues in caring for children. Developing a system that is able to address those many different issues while approaching each individual like an individual is extraordinarily difficult.
Sure, each person’s journey to homelessness is unique. But addictions seem to be a common element, or, if not, chronically poor mental health. The other factors you mention play a role, but from what I’ve seen, much if not all of that comes from multi-generational drug use.
Lets not overlook those who are only homeless because at one point in the past, they got......
Sure, but it’s pretty easy to identify shelter as a human need and argue we should make it a positive right in our society.
What’s wrong with just calling them homeless?
People owning multiple (I mean more than 2) real estate properties and AirBNBing them for income are part of the problem.
Maybe, but I think there are likely some larger housing inventory and urban planning issues that have contributed to the problem more significantly. Are you advocating for legislation making such situations illegal?
It would be impossible to enforce - so no. But it would be nice if people could just do the right thing. Taking 15 homes off the roster so one can rent them out to short term occupants ain’t helping.
Addiction is normal and natural human behavior. Reward based approaches to training and discipline result in continued pursuit of that reward.
