John Best showed me that there are several common factors in a Homeless person’s life. Often a person has more than one of these issues as an ingredient into their homelessness.
- mental illness – possibly undiagnosed
- physical illness
- poor relationship with family
- criminal history
- victim of crime
- alcohol addiction
- drug addiction
- member of street culture/street family
- resistant to treatment and or medication for any illnesses
- failure in “prevention” or “social programs”
- dual diagnosis
- poor social skills
- unemployment
- poverty
- incomplete education
Over time I will cover these topics in greater detail and explain how they are contributing factors toward homelessness.
The better conversation however, is , how do you take an individual with one, some or all of these characteristics and help them to be come a “Housed Person”?
Give me time, I will cover that too.
- Outreach and engagement
- Life skills training
- Available and affordable supportive housing
- Educated property managers
- Accessible neighborhood resources such as stores
- Reliable and affordable public transportation
- Skilled and educated Police and Fire departments
- Affordable and accessible Psychiatric and Substance Abuse treatment
- Affordable and accessible Physical Medicine (other than the E.R.)
- Supportive Employment
- Social engagement
- Support
- Homeless Services – shelters, day centers, supportive transitional housing
- Money Management
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