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Homelessness is a policy choice
Privileged people will tell you it's a choice to be impoverished while intelligent people understand the choice was made for them in an office by men in suits seeking profit and I believe that's disgusting, unhuman and an evil practice. The capitalist system creates economic, environmental and psychological problems it has no intention of solving because to the system they are not problems but rather the system functioning exactly as intended. Homelessness in capitalism is a necessity to put fear in the working class that they too can be victimized for someone elses profit.
Housing first is the solution
There are exactly 2 ways the homeless epidemic can be solved and only one of which will actually work. The first option (the bad way) is what we collective culture already practice, is kill them slowly through neglect, exposure to elements, untreated medical issues, suicide and overdoses. The second option (the good way) is to house them so they have an opportunity to reintigrate into the work force, get back on their feet and get treatment (if necessary) for things poverty exacerbates.
That's nice and all but how will you pay for it Mister Mayor?
Look outside. You see that man fent leaning on the sidewalk? You pay for that. See those needles in the park you tell your kids not to go to anymore? You pay for them. Those cops that constsntly clear out encampments when they could be hunting criminals? You pay for it. This is your money hard at work treating those who need help as though they were a pest to be controlled and not as our brothers and sisters in humanity. We spend $25 million+ on homelessness and THIS is the best we can get? Pathetic.
The plan
Identify immediat needs. how many suffer from addiction? How many have health issues and medical needs? Who are the most vulnerable?
Windsor is filled with abandoned spaces that can be converted into large scale temporary housing that simply are not being utilized, and when they're no longer needed as shelters would be easily converted to regular rental units. Times are hard and its going to get harder before it gets better, and if we're going to get ahead of this we need to invest in solving problems, not keeping the status quo despite the problem. Increasing housing for the bottom of the economic pyramid decreases how much we spend keeping them on the street; less hospital visits, police encounters, encampment removals and trash in the street. Will housing alone solve all problems? No, it's a first step in a chain of events that must be followed through to the end. Housing, recovery, reintegration to the workforce.
Housing the existing unhoused isn' tenough on its own. Keeping people on the brink of homelessness in their home is just as important to tackle. It's not your fault if you can't get enough hours at work, or that the cost of living raises faster than how much you make, and throwing you on the street because of that isn't acceptable behavior in a civilized society.
