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By stabilizing people through shelter, moving them into permanent housing, and engaging them in developed assistance programs to keep them in their long-term, permenant housing, we can not only reduce, but help to eliminate, homelessness along our gulf Coast.

Since modern homelessness began more than fifty years ago, research and experience have overwhelmingly shown that investments in permanent housing are extraordinarily effective in reducing homelessness — as well as in most  
                cases being cost-effective.

Many of the most successful housing-based policies designed to address the homelessness crisis — in particular, permanent supportive housing for individuals living with disabilities, Veterans, and other special needs —were pioneered in major metropolitan areas and replicated throughout the country. Although, there are three types of shelters, we would first help not only our Vincentian brothers and sisters, but other Christian organizations to  develop a community-based Help Centers providing rapid delivery of services within our communities. Working collaboratively throughout our Catholic Diocese of Biloxi, we will then begin the planning for a centralized SVDP Family Homeless Shelter that will support services for more complex, critical, and long-term needs, such as addiction, basic education, job skills, and housing.  Numerous research studies have consistently confirmed that long-term housing assistance not only successfully reduces homelessness — it is also less expensive than temporarily sheltering and other institutional care. Proven housing-based policies include:

• Federal Housing Assistance: Federal housing programs, such as "Rapid Re-Housing" are one of the most successful housing-based solutions to reduce homelessness. The two largest federal housing programs included are public housing and federal housing vouchers, known as Housing Choice Vouchers or Section 8 vouchers. Housing vouchers allow low-income households to rent modest market-rate housing of their choice and provide a flexible subsidy that adjusts with the family’s income over time. Studies show that public housing and federal housing vouchers are highly successful at reducing family homelessness and in ensuring that these families remain stably housed out of the shelter system.

• Permanent Supportive Housing: Pioneered in New York City in the 1980s, permanent supportive housing has now proven to be a successful and cost-effective solution to the homelessness crisis. The supportive housing model combines affordable housing assistance with vital support services for individuals living with mental illness, HIV/AIDS or other serious health problems. Moreover, numerous research studies have shown that permanent supportive housing costs less than other forms of emergency and institutional care.

• “Housing First”: Another proven solution replicated nationwide is the “housing first” approach to street homelessness, which builds on the success of permanent supportive housing. The “housing first” approach involves moving long-term street homeless individuals — the majority of whom are living with mental illness, substance abuse disorders and other serious health problems — directly into subsidized housing and then linking them to support services, either on-site or in the community. Research studies have found that the majority of long-term street homeless people moved into “housing first” apartments remain stably housed and experience significant improvements in their health problems. Much like permanent supportive housing, the “housing first” approach is far less costly than emergency and institutional care, such as shelters, hospitals and correctional facilities.

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