Unfortunately, as I write this post the homeless problem in the United States continues to get worst with no end in sight.
Many organizations and people have good intentions in helping solve the homelessness problem, but I believe a lot of these efforts will go by the waste side as we do not get to the root of the problem.
There are many factors contributing to the problem, but I believe the number one cause is drug addiction and the only way to solve this crisis is by developing a non-addictive treatment. Obviously, it would be complex to roll this out as many homeless people have now spent years on the street and it would be difficult to convince them to participate in a treatment.
The other problems we hear about are cost of living and employment, which are both items that can be addressed relatively easily, but only if you solve for addiction. The reason I say that is you can create rehabilitation communities and help educate people on particular job trades, so they can get back on their feet. This is already happening, but most have not been successful.
Then we have the political component of just letting people live on the street and not allowing cities to move them of public lands. This doesn’t help solve the problem and only ruins cities across the United States. As an example San Francisco, which I lived at for many years has only gotten worst as the politicians continue to handle to the homeless population in ineffective manner by providing money and ability to just live anywhere on the street. This problem has now expanded into other major U.S. cities and residents in those cities are starting to feel and see this political solution isn’t working.