Giving Compass' Take:

• Steve Berg implores policymakers to begin taking steps towards a permanent solution for homelessness as we look beyond the global pandemic.

• How can we be sure our permanent solution for homelessness is equitable, with an emphasis on serving marginalized communities? What are you doing to look for solutions to homelessness, both during and after COVID-19?

• Locate resources to help you direct your giving to permanent solutions for homelessness throughout the pandemic.

The challenges people dealing with homelessness are facing right now are immense. We are achieving some things – like continuing to house people during a global pandemic, and innovating new ways to do so – but we need to build into our work that we’re not going back to old ways when things get better. An example is the need for an endgame for hotel initiatives.

Many communities have done excellent work keeping homeless people safe from COVID. A main technique is by using hotel rooms, left empty from the effects of the pandemic on travel and tourism, to temporarily house people. Places saw that many of the characteristics that are associated with the worst outcome from COVID were distressingly common among people experiencing homelessness. Crowded shelters or encampments on the street with no access even to simple handwashing were not going to work – so communities made deals with hotel owners to bring people inside. FEMA picked up on it, and Congress made the money available through the CARES Act.

The limitation, though, is obvious – these measures are temporary. At some point, the virus will be under control and hotel owners will want to go back to renting rooms for more money to their typical clientele. The prospect of thousands of older people with disabilities returning to the streets is imminent. A permanent solution, in the form of housing, has to be on the table.

The crises of the current moment have raised awareness about how vulnerable people are without housing – “just stay home” is the simple solution for COVID for the most vulnerable people, and every time anyone says it, it’s a reminder that hundreds of thousands of Americans don’t have one.

Read the full article about a permanent solution for homelessness by Steve Berg at National Alliance to End Homelessness.