Giving Compass' Take:

• The author argues that more effort is needed to end homelessness than just kind intentions.  There needs to be a more significant, targeted focus on housing and healthcare for this population. 

• How can donors help to fund solutions and programs that we know can address core issues of homelessness? What are the core problems of homelessness?

• Read the Giving Compass donor guide for homelessness. 

Kindness is not a scalable intervention. Good intentions do not end homelessness. Housing does. And connecting vulnerable children — and their parents — with a safe home should not have to fall on the shoulders of good-hearted citizens alone. The most difficult challenges may bring out the best in American citizens, but they must also bring out the best in America: bold, federal interventions to end homelessness, accessible treatment for people with opioid use disorders, and real solutions to poverty.

We know that housing is healthcare. We know that the stability of a home ensures the best outcomes for people living with addictions. We know that proven, best practices include: access to safe, low-barrier emergency shelter; a path to permanent housing; and quality health care with immediate access to life-saving substance abuse treatment.

Homelessness and addiction are not intractable problems. While they are not easy to solve on the individual level, we know generally what works. Unfortunately, these solutions are chronically underfunded.

Read the full article about going beyond good intentions to end homelessness by Ben Cattell Noll at endhomelessness.org.