The report refers to housing and homeless shelters as temporary and emergency shelters, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, construction and repairs, and others.

For 2021, the report estimates the community housing & homeless shelters market size at $17.4b. This means taxpayers spent over $17 billion spent JUST on housing for the homeless. This does not include services, public maintenance, healthcare, street cleaning, etc.

The majority of industry revenue comes from tax dollars from federal, state, and local government-funded homeless and housing assistance programs.

The Annualized Market Size Growth for the Community Housing & Homeless Shelters in the US between 2016–2021 is 5.2%. In other words, the market grows 5.2% each year.

The report also states the poverty rate is expected to increase in 2021, posing a potential opportunity to the industry for increased revenues because of an increase in homelessness.

The post Homeless shelters industry estimated at $17.4B in 2021 appeared first on Citizens Again.

A KQED article provided very clear examples of why the homeless –  or anyone for that matter –  would sleep anywhere but a homeless shelter.

A 2017 public health inspection of one shelter in LA, found 17 health code violations, including evidence of rats, roaches, suspected mold, and issues with waste storage and disposal.

In a residential hotel in downtown L.A., a Department of Mental Health client reported bathrooms that were “trashed daily” with toilets that “don’t flush.”

Complaints of homeless people getting sick in shelters with body lice, head lice, and other communicable diseases like MRSA, an infection that is resistant to treatment with many antibiotics.

“Mold in the bathrooms, blood on the walls, just a variety of issues that are really unacceptable,” said Eve Garrow who works on homeless issues for the American Civil Liberties Union. “People with disabilities may try to use shelters and very quickly decide they’re unable to manage their mental health conditions in those shelter spaces.”

What appears to be a huge problem, is there’s a lack of accountability of meeting quality and service benchmarks. There’s no single public department in charge of proactively making sure shelters are clean, safe places to stay. Only when enough complaints are filed, an inspection usually is performed.

The post Rats, roaches, bedbugs, mold, bloody walls, and broken facilities at homeless shelters appeared first on Citizens Again.

According to the New York Times, San Francisco affordable housing cost around $750,000 to build per unit, for a two-bedroom apartment. The average costs of construction in San Francisco is 13 percent higher than in New York, 60 percent more expensive than Chicago, and 75 percent more than in Houston.

The high cost is attributed to of course the land, as well as the construction workers which earn about $90 an hour on average, and about a quarter of the cost go towards government fees, permits, and consulting companies.

And a good amount also goes towards attorney fees to deal with all the paperwork which can typically tie up property development for years.

The image above is of 1064 – 68 Mission St. in San Francisco. Here are the details of that project:

• 258 units (studios)
  • 156 units for chronic homeless people
  • 100 units for homeless seniors
  • 2 manager units
• $160M to build
  • $144M development
  • $0 land (city owned and donated, $36M value)
  • $16M for service center
• $625K per unit ($760K w/land)
• 5 years (press release to keys)

This is a beautiful building. But San Francisco has over 5,180 unsheltered homeless, according to a 2019 count. San Francisco will need at least 20 more buildings just as big to handle their homeless population – that is if it hasn’t grown in the past 2 years since the count.

Citizens Again will cost substantially less and will be built to safely accommodate much larger populations with more services, at a lower cost.

By building outside the urban core, and by building a single location, Citizens Again can utilize economies of scale to bring down the overall costs. From the early conceptual estimates, it’s believed the entire City – which will have a capacity of up to 150,000 population – will cost a total of $3 billion. That breaks down to approximately $60,000 per unit (about 50,000 total units). This also includes costs for services, on-site hospital, healthcare, and much more.

The post San Francisco’s affordable housing for homeless costs $750,000 per unit appeared first on Citizens Again.

But because of the availability of land, as well as lawsuits from the public who don’t want homeless housing in their neighborhood, housing for the chronically homeless in Los Angeles is spread all throughout the LA County. This creates a patchwork of housing sites, with redundancies in staffing and services, and many times caseworkers are required to travel to the locations.

With the Citizens Again City, having a single location would allow many more supportive services for a greater number of people, resulting in a lower cost. And by being located away from neighborhoods, the public wouldn’t oppose the location (known as NIMBY – Not In My BackYard).

Of course, Citizens Again isn’t for everyone; but it’s a viable option to provide more housing, with more services, for more homeless, for a lower cost to taxpayers.

The post Homeless housing is scattered across Los Angeles appeared first on Citizens Again.

In 2017, Los Angeles opened its waitlist for housing choice vouchers. It had been closed for new applicants for 13 years. Households selected to receive vouchers would only have to pay 30 percent of their income in rent, with the rest paid by the government (taxpayers).

There were 600,000 applicants for just 20,000 spots on the list.

And this was 4 years ago. Imagine how long the list would be, considering the problems with the pandemic from this past year, as well as increased immigration (which increases the demand for affordable housing, and competition for jobs), rising rents and housing costs, inflation, and other issues.

Homelessness will increase. We need to prepare for the future.

The post 600,000 applicants for 20,000 affordable housing vouchers appeared first on Citizens Again.

Compare these 120 sq. ft. shelter that costs $58,000 per year, to the Citizens Again proposed solution costing approximately $4,000 per year, per person with many more facilities, amenities, activities, and services than this Tuff Sheds proposal.

The post Tuff Shed housing for Sacramento homeless costs $58,000 per person, per year appeared first on Citizens Again.

Overall, LAHSA-funded shelters had a 78 percent utilization rate, well below the 90 percent required in their contracts.

Inspectors also found that 25 of those facilities were failing to meet the minimum standards required by their contracts to get homeless people off the streets for good.

The post Los Angeles Homeless Services: half of shelters not filling their beds for the homeless appeared first on Citizens Again.

• No pets allowed
• Danger of sexual assault
• Threats of violence
• Fear of contracting illness / disease
• Worry of Theft
• Hours of operation incompatible with work hours
• Difficult to sleep due to noises
• Endanger disabled individuals
• Loss of personal control (check-in time, eating, sleeping, waking, checkout, etc.)
• Lack of privacy
• Fear of crowds
• Forced religious services
• Personal belongings not allowed inside
• Rejection based on drug or alcohol use (or perception of usage)
• Separation of family members (due to gender/age restrictions)
• Lack of handicapped accommodations
• Disrespectful check-in process
• Fear of contracting parasites like lice, scabies, or bedbugs
• Discrimination against LGBTQ people
• Denied entry due to mental illness

And many times it’s just not their choice to live outdoors, but a lack of available beds in their area.

The post Here’s why not all homeless want to use shelters appeared first on Citizens Again.

A 2019 report estimated it would cost $12.7 billion to building enough housing for the bay area’s 28,200 homeless, assuming a construction cost of $450,000 per unit (although housing costs in San Francisco are more than $700,000 per unit when land is factored in according to the report).

An additional $700 million per year – assuming $25,000 per homeless person – to fund ongoing services.

The low price of $25,000 per person per year for ongoing services takes in the effect of the full range of homeless levels, from chronic to temporary.

On the contrary, Citizens Again will cost substantially less. By building outside the urban core and by building a single location the city can utilize economies of scale to bring down the overall costs. From the early conceptual estimates, it’s believed the entire City – which will have a capacity of up to 150,000 population – will cost a total of $3 billion. That breaks down to approximately $60,000 per unit (about 50,000 total units).

The post Experts say building housing for San Francisco Bay homeless will cost at least $13 billion appeared first on Citizens Again.

Housing First is a permanent supportive housing program that is considered the “best practice” for governments and service agencies to use in their fight to end chronic homelessness. It’s used in X states and endorsed by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).

The primary goal of Housing First is to get homeless people into permanent, long-term housing. It differs in other shelters and housing programs, as it doesn’t require sobriety, drug treatment, psychiatric counseling or medications, or any service participation. However, supportive services are offered if the participant is interested.

Housing units are typically scattered around towns and cities, working with private landlords. The only requirements are that participants are required to pay 30% of the rent, which is usually paid for by Social Security benefits; and participants must meet with case managers twice monthly.

Research Findings for Housing First

There is strong evidence that Housing First works:

• Reduces homelessness (Palepu 2013, Tsemberis 2000, Gulcur 2003)
• Reduces hospital utilization among individuals with persistent mental illness and problems with substance abuse and addiction (Cochrane-Stergiopoulos 2015, Fitzpatrick-Lewis 2011, Montgomery 2013, Nelson 2007)
• Reduces costs associated with hospitalizations and treatment for individuals with persistent mental illness and substance abuse problems (Srebnik 2013, Urban-Cunningham 2009)
• Decreases costs to emergency departments (Ly 2015)
• Decreases costs to shelters (Stergiopoulos 2015, Ly 2015)
• Decreases utilization of psychiatric hospitals for formerly homeless individuals with mental illness (Gulcur 2003)
• Cost less (generally) than programs that require sobriety or treatment before providing housing (Gulcur 2003)
• Improves housing stability for people with mental disorders (Stergiopoulos 2015, Palepu 2013, Tsemberis 2000)
• Improves housing stability and decrease hospitalizations among homeless veterans (Montgomery 2013)
• Improves mental health and well-being (Nelson 2007, Tsemberis 2012)
• Improves participants’ functioning in the community when programs have strong case management components (Cochrane-Stergiopoulos 2015)
• Significantly improves the higher quality of life than non-participants, as well as greater safety and comfort in their new dwellings (Patterson 2013)
• Increases treatment for substance abuse and addiction (Nelson 2007, Tsemberis 2000).
• Alcohol usage findings are mixed. One study indicates the use of alcohol and other substances declines among Housing First participants (Kirst 2015), while another indicates that substance use-related outcomes do not differ significantly between participants and non-participants (Somers 2015)

Examples of Success

Results/Findings from Housing First Studies:

2006 cost study[1] with 150 chronically homeless individuals in a Denver, CO Housing First program

Charlotte, NC study[2] with 85 chronically homeless individuals

Cost Comparison of Housing First vs. living on streets

Seattle, WA – 95 chronically homeless individuals with severe alcohol problems with health care use were studied to analyze the cost while living on the streets, then while in a Housing First program.[3]

• $86k living on streets
• $42k while living in Housing First Program
• That’s a 51% cost reduction

Orange County, CA – an in-depth report analyzed the costs of 252 chronically homeless individuals on the streets, and in various housing programs, including Housing First programs.[4]

• Average cost per person:
  • Living on streets = $100,759
  • Permanent supportive housing = $51,587
  • That’s a 49% cost reduction
• Average costs for 10% most costly:
  • Living on streets = $439,787
  • Permanent supportive housing = $55,332
  • That’s an 87% cost reduction

With so much evidence-based research illustrating success with the Housing First program, why are there still so many homeless in America?

If you read the Citizens Again proposal to building a single location, you’ll see that many of the great things Housing First provides, the Citizens Again City will provide as well, but on a much larger, more cost-effective scale.

Read through the Citizens Again website, or stay tuned for many more blog posts to explain.

[1] https://shnny.org/uploads/Supportive_Housing_in_Denver.pdf

[2] https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/05/the-case-for-giving-homes-to-the-homeless/392696/

[3] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/183666

[4] https://www.unitedwayoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Orange-County-Cost-Study-Homeless-Executive-Summary.pdf

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