A Home But Not A Cure

Up First from NPR

NPR

Daily News, News

4.5 • 52.8K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Thirty years ago, housing activists began an unusual experiment to help people struggling with homelessness and chronic addiction. They decided to get people into housing first and then try to help their clients with their addictions. This idea, called "Housing First," is now the central strategy guiding homeless services in America. But the concept is facing new scrutiny and growing criticism from conservative lawmakers. Today on The Sunday Story, we look at the controversy around Housing First and consider if the strategy is working as it was designed.

You can listen to Will James's full documentary on KUOW's Soundside podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is a Sunday story from Up First, where we go beyond the news to bring you one big story.
0:25.8	Not long ago, reporter Will James walked into an apartment building in Seattle and met a tenant named Kenny Taylor.
0:29.2	Oh, thanks so much.
0:31.0	Oh, this is great.
0:32.1	Yeah, this is great.
0:34.0	This building, the Union Hotel, is the first in Seattle to operate under a philosophy called
0:40.5	Housing First, and Kenny was one of the original tenants who moved in 30 years ago.
0:46.6	He came here straight off the streets.
0:49.5	I was homeless for about five years before I moved in here.
0:55.3	I slept in doorways.
0:56.6	I slept in the street.
0:58.1	I slept in tents.
0:59.5	I slept at the missions and stuff like that.
1:03.5	That's that fun.
1:05.6	Being homeless is not fun at all.
1:11.4	When Kitty moved into his apartment in the 1990s, Housing First was an experiment,
1:17.3	and nobody knew how it was going to turn out.
1:20.7	But now, 30 years later, Housing First is the central strategy the federal government uses
1:26.4	to combat homelessness. So is it working?
1:29.9	And is it working like it's supposed to?
1:35.3	When Housing First was introduced, the idea was to take some of the most vulnerable people
1:40.8	living on the streets and move them immediately into their own permanent
	...

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