As long as we're talking about alternative ways of living and creating housing, check out the TED talk for the Global Village Construction Set.
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As long as we're talking about alternative ways of living and creating housing, check out the TED talk for the Global Village Construction Set.
That is interesting.
Roughly 66% of the homeless are dealing with alcohol, drug, mental health issues or a combination of the 3. Just giving addicts a place to live is not enough. You need to provide them with counseling, treatment, work, etc. Even if you pay these people dirt for money, you're still looking at $40,000 per person per year to cover medical expenses.
Chronic substance abuse and mental health issues are severe problems amongst homeless veterans, which account for a significant minority of homeless men. Those problems are so prevalent as to be nigh universal. These are not issues that go away in a month, or 6 months. These are issues that might require lifelong treatment.
The homes will help with temporary homelessness, which predominantly consists of families going through hard times. This accounts for roughly 1/3 of the people homeless at any given time, but it doesn't stop more people from becoming homeless in the future.
Giving these people a place to live is a solution on a personal level. It's only treating a symptom on a societal level.
Solving health care would go a long ways to improving the condition of the homeless. For one, people with mental health issues could receive assistance more easily, then things like job training/retraining would be more effective. Second, it would be one less way for families to go bankrupt and lose everything.