What's the Goal?
If homelessness ended, what would it look like?
I talk a lot about ending homelessness: the barriers we face in doing so, the ethical and political and spiritual necessity of doing so, and so on and so forth. Ending homelessness can feel like this far-off thing that we should do but that we probably never will do. But ending homelessness is far more attainable than we give it credit for, and today I want to talk about what that looks like; what it has looked like in cities that have achieved it.
First, let’s talk about what ending homelessness doesn’t mean. Ending homelessness doesn’t mean that nobody ever spends a night on the street or in a shelter or somewhere not permanent. Regardless of how much we fix our dirty rotten systems, things like this will happen. There will be folks stuck in-between options and destinations. Ending homelessness isn’t about imagining a mystical utopia where everything is sunshine and rainbows and nobody has a bad day or is let down by their community or has a string of misfortunes.
Ending homelessness is about achieving what we call functional zero. I will summarize what this means, but I also recommend reading up on it here.
Functional zero means that the homelessness system works so well and efficiently that anytime someone falls into homelessness, they are quickly identified and met with services so that their homelessness is
Rare - not very many people fall into homelessness
Brief - the experience of homelessness is short-lived
Non-Reccuring - the same people don’t keep falling back into homelessness
Suddenly, this feels a little more possible, right? Our brains can switch from imagination-mode to strategy-mode, from fantasy to hope and then to scheming.
But where do you start? The experts on this recommend that a city or county aiming at functional zero should start with one sub-population of homelessness and achieve it, then scaling up to tackle the next. While there are many ways to slice up the pie that is homelessness, the most common sub-categories are veteran homelessness, youth homelessness, chronic homelessness, and family homelessness. By identifying one of the these areas to target first, it affords the community the chance to prove the model works before scaling it up to address the entire homelessness population.
And in case this still feels out of reach, know this: 14 communities in the US have already achieved functional zero for at least one sub-population of homelessness. Check out this interactive map to see each one and what population they targeted, as well as all the other communities who are on their way to doing the same.
When I subtitled my book “A Christian Call to End Homelessness,” it was because I believed (and still believe) that homelessness is solvable in my lifetime. I believe that Christians have an integral role to play in that resolution as people who are meant to embody a way of grace and empathy, and (let’s face it) a group of people highly resourced with land, wealth, and human-power. Let’s join in with the movement to get to functional zero and live into what God demanded through the prophet Jeremiah: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, for in its welfare you will find yours.”
These posts will always be free.
But the rest of my work—traveling to speak and lead workshops, creating content, advocacy and direct aid—is enabled and expanded by your support. Consider becoming a Paid subscriber to enhance my reach.
Kevin, I am curious about the definition of homelessness that you are using. HUD's definition is pretty narrow and leaves out most folks who are couch-surfing or living doubled-up. And those people are the most vulnerable: families with children and teens who are on their own. If functional zero only includes those who meet HUD's definition, there will be plenty of others who fall outside of that group. There are plenty of reasons why families with kids don't stay in shelters or on the street. But they end up staying with unsafe family members or friends, so kids are at risk for abuse and neglect.
Kevin, I was surprised to see my home county/city on this list as having achieved functional zero. Lancaster City/County in PA has a fairly big problem with homelessness in relation to its size. I am part of a multifaith group of citizens who seek social justice in several aspects, and homelessness is one of them. We met just last week with the Director of the Homelessness Coalition and the Lancaster County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. As winter shelter money comes to an end in two weeks, many beds in shelters will no longer be available to people. The funds just aren’t there. But the problem still remains.