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Comment by squokko | Hacker News Reader

There are some percentage of those 550K homeless who just need a home, but it's much lower than 50%. If you've seen a homeless person screaming at their reflection in a car window and then punching it repeatedly until their hand seems broken you will realize that that particular person's problem is not the lack of a housing structure.

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As anyone who's ever tried to study any complex phenomenon in a rigorous way knows, determining causality is fraught. But I think it's fair to say that most mental illnesses are exacerbated by living in stressful and uncertain conditions, and having shelter is a basic need no matter how crazy you are. Thus, this seems like a poor argument against providing housing

But basic shelter is frequently available but ask homeless individuals why they don't use it. It can be unsafe, even trying to learn about the shelter or queuing up for access is unsafe as these areas are frequently overrun by dangerous elements for vulnerable populations. Ask hotel owners how it worked being forced to house homeless during the pandemic and various other times.

This is a complex issue no doubt, but it is the height of nativity to think we can use existing underutilized housing stock to solve or even help the existing homeless crisis. We have frequently tried it with poor results and poor outcomes. It is very very very hard to meaningfully address the existing homeless epidemic, which is intimately tied up with the opioid, general drug, and mental health epidemics, none of which we have any reasonable answers for.

On the contrary, we've found as you actually build housing, prices go down (or at least rise more slowly) and homelessness goes down.

This argument is a variant of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. You can improve the lot of many long before you need to solve all addictions.

You can also solve the problem before people get addicted. It won't turn up in any statistic, people will simply take it for granted.

This sounds a lot like what we're trying is solutions that put the people the state is helping under their power and observation and do not give them ownership, autonomy, or any sense of stability surrounding their living situation. I'm not surprised that this kind of intervention often leads to abuse, nor that it's not desired by most people affected

Having a roof + support is one of the fundamental parts of treating mental health however.

Can't just shove them in a house and all good, but its a fundamental part of treatment along with social programs. Without stability it's tough to change much in someone's life.

It sounds like what is needed is a holistic solution that provides both accommodation and other support services all in one.

Agree just because a property is vacant it doesn’t make that property suitable for anyone. Does it need ground maintenance. Does it need furniture. Is it in a very high cost of living area. Is it near where homeless people and their associated support groups and family are. Etc

Greater than 50% of your comment is given to an embellished anecdote that is not, in fact, representative of the majority of homeless people.

You'd do better to stick to facts, like most homeless people are recently homeless and locals, and homeless rates correlate well with housing availability/prices.

Let's see how your mental well-being change or certain issues escalate once you become homeless.

>If you've seen a homeless person screaming at their reflection in a car window and then punching it repeatedly until their hand seems broken you will realize that that particular person's problem is not the lack of a housing structure.

Spending a decade without a housing structure and self medicating away the depression that comes with it is precisely how you end up like that.

Where exactly did you pull that number out of?

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