Annie Tsai

It has been proven time and time again in study after study that when someone who has been in an unstable housing situation is given a place to rest their head, store their clothes, shower, and cook for themselves – a home that is theirs and where they don’t have to worry about where they are going to sleep in a few hours – many good things follow.

Yet, good people in our communities continue to believe that our homeless community members should exist somewhere else… or not at all. Well, they’re here. And the size of this population is growing. Seniors 60+ represent 31% of the population, under 18 are 10% of the group. Veterans who fought to defend our nation? That’s 7% of our homeless community. Half are white, another 25% who are hispanic. Nearly one-third are families with children. From a health standpoint, 30% have chronic health conditions, 25% have diagnosed mental health conditions, and 20% have issues related to substance abuse. Almost 25% of our unhomed community is employed. These are duplicated data points, so an individual can count for multiple categories.

The 2023 homeless count for San Mateo County showed an 18% increase year over year, representing just over 2,000 people experiencing homelessness in our county. Of that population, a little over half were living outside of a shelter, including living on the streets, in cars, RVs, or tents. This represented a 5% increase over 2022. 

Part of my work on the Housing and Community Development Committee (HCDC) with San Mateo County for the past five years has been to review requests for funding for community services supporting a wide diversity of programs targeting at-risk populations in our county. These are services to support people escaping from domestic violence, seeking immediate temporary and long-term shelter, seeking to perform important shelter updates in older structures, supporting emergency services for underserved community members, funding crisis management and prevention, and more. Every funding cycle, the demand always outweighs the available funds. 

In the One Day Homeless Count report from May 2024, 222 people were sleeping on our streets and 77 people were sleeping in tents or makeshift shelters. Can we not as a community come together and find stable housing for 299 people? 

After seeing successful programs in other states and countries prove that stable housing is an important foundation for people to build their lives on top of, I am a believer in the “housing first” movement.

The Pathways to Housing program out of New York City first launched in 1992, focusing on providing immediate access to permanent housing with no preconditions like getting clean or entering a treatment program. It focused on housing people who were chronically homeless with mental health or substance abuse issues. After the first five years, people in the program were retaining their housing at a rate of 80%, which is significantly higher than traditional “treatment-first” approaches of 30-50%. Additionally, the program saved the public system over $16,000 per person annually in costs for hospitalizations, shelter stays, and emergency room visits. 

The Denver Housing First Collaborative (DHFC) program first began in 2003 and prioritizes stable housing before addressing other issues like unemployment or substance abuse. After the program’s first two years, 43% of participants had gained and held employment. 

Beginning in 2006 in North Carolina, the Homeward Bound, Asheville program focused on chronically homeless individuals in Asheville receiving permanent housing and support services. Within the first year of receiving stable housing, employment rates increased 30% among program participants. 

Internationally, Finland’s Housing First Model launched in 1995 and rolled out nationwide in 2008. Within two years of being housed, 40% of participants secured employment or entered vocational training. As well, 60-70% of program participants maintained their jobs after one year. Chronic homelessness has decreased by 35%, and the public cost savings is approximately 15,000 euro per person annually. 

Canada’s At Home/Chez Soi Project launched in 2009 and targeted homeless people with mental health challenges. After one year, program participants had a 65% employment retention rate and after two years, 70% of participants remained housed (as compared to 30% in the control group). Public cost savings is around $21,000 per person annually.

Back at home, approximately 63% of our community’s homeless population say that lack of affordable housing was the primary reason they became homeless. 19% lost their job, 15% were evicted, 8% are homeless due to internal family conflict, 6% are due to domestic violence. 13% report that substance abuse led to their homelessness. 

Some of these problems are fixable, but the will to fix them needs to be there. Across the US’s general population, employee retention sits at around 65-70% for roles in the mean wage range and lower. Should we help 299 people find homes with a 60-80% success rate of maintaining job stability after two years? As a numbers person, the investment looks sound.