How Midwest Street Medicine is bridging health equity gaps for the homeless

Making the transition from the street to permanent housing can be difficult - it's hard to force people to seek help. San Francisco works to help the homeless rise from the poverty cycle by pinpointing the most chronically homeless people on the street and urge them into services.

Milwaukee County’s mental health system put more resources in expensive emergency care rather than invest in programs that offer continual care. As a result, Milwaukee County identifies nine solutions from other cities that have had success in repairing mental health systems. Solutions include the ending of reliance on emergency care, expand community support programs, change laws, and supportive housing.

Should housing be considered a form of healthcare? New York State thinks so, and is funding "supportive housing" through the state's Medicaid program.

Long-term housing support helps end the cycles of displacement that lead to chronic homelessness. Although permanent supportive housing programs are usually associated with older individuals, such programs can be directed toward the prevention of homelessness. In Philadelphia, Project Home’s program offers long-term subsided apartments to young adults at risk of being on the street.

OH! Oppent Haus connects residents in Luxembourg who want to help recently arrived refugees in need of a temporary place to stay. With overwhelmed asylum centers, refugees had no where to go and relied on the generosity of locals. The idea was inspired by a similar initiative in France and grew popular due to social media. The arrangement has also helped the new arrivals pick up the local language faster, leading to an easier path to integration.

During the pandemic, indigenous communities received massive federal funding through the 2020 Coronavirus Aid, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, and the Relief and Economic Security Act for a number of needs, like infrastructure and tribal housing improvements. Many indigenous entities received smaller funds too. But COVID exacerbated several long-pending and neglected issues, local officials and tribal members say, and the funding does not sufficiently address them in the longterm.

As climate change increases flooding in the area, residents of Vermont’s Tri-Park Cooperative mobile home community can relocate to safer locations out of the flood zone without increasing their monthly expenses. The offer is part of a program created by the co-op and the local government that will cover the costs of the new homes and buyouts.

Catholic Charities helps immigrants and refugees access housing and transition to life in a new country. Housing is the first step in the resettlement process, but Catholic Charities also helps immigrants find jobs, get their children in school and integrate into the community. In 2007, Fort Wayne welcomed 3,500 Burmese refugees. By 2016 the number had grown to more than 6,000 and counting.

Several community organizations and municipalities like the Office of Transgender Initiatives (OTI) have come together to decrease homelessness rates among the transgender population. OTI formed a Trans Advisory Committee which focused on budget and policy advocacy based on input from the transgender community to address homelessness and partnered with efforts like the Transgender District. All in all, these combined efforts have decreased transgender homelessness by 15% since 2019.

Footsteps, a NY-based housing-focused nonprofit helping formerly ultra-Orthodox Jews succeed in secular society, has distributed $80,000 to 51 members, providing one-time stipends of $1,500 to $2,000 per individual for temporary needs such as a broker’s fee, moving costs or a security deposit.