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.
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.
I would guess that the Built for Zero campaign is using the HUD definition, despite recognizing its imperfectness. I prefer definitions that include couch-surfing and other forms of homelessness. Anytime you define something you put barriers around what's in and what's out. But all of the things that help those experiencing the HUD definition get to functional zero will also help those who fall outside of that definition.
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.
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.
I would guess that the Built for Zero campaign is using the HUD definition, despite recognizing its imperfectness. I prefer definitions that include couch-surfing and other forms of homelessness. Anytime you define something you put barriers around what's in and what's out. But all of the things that help those experiencing the HUD definition get to functional zero will also help those who fall outside of that definition.