Around the world, people go about doing the same things in very different ways. Although the behaviours of cultures are different, the basic needs they are satisfying are very similar. The first and most basic of all needs are those to do with physical survival. This is the need for food, drink, shelter, sleep and oxygen. If a person cannot satisfy this basic survival need it dominates their interest and concern. A person who is cold, sick or hungry will not be very interested in socialising, learning or working.

Bipartisan bills are extremely rare in the era of Trumpism. It is nice to see congress take up this pervasive and worsening epidemic. In the richest nation in the history of the world, 60% of it’s citizens would be wiped out by a $1000 emergency.

Measurement of goals should be ongoing with permanently reauthorizing the elimination of homelessness. Reports on programs is vital to gage what program is working, what needs tweaking, and what needs overhauling, should definitely be evaluated on a yearly basis. To not promote the need for providing basic care for another is like walking past a homeless person without even taking notice of their existence. We must open our eyes. The U.S. is not white picket fences or pristine green fairways all around. However they have come to their situation, the center of the homeless problem is the heart of a human being.

Homelessness in a country as wealthy as the US is unacceptable. Ending homelessness is not a quick fix. Not only is affordable housing required but so too is job training to insure people are employable and mental and drug treatment for those who are homeless due to mental illness or drug addiction. The goal of the program should be to address the root cause of homelessness with the long term goal of eliminating it forever.

The test of a great nation is how it treats the lowest among them. No one should be homeless in a nation as rich and as powerful as the United States. It’s about time we start fighting against poverty, not poor people.

Yes

To say this is a local problem is like saying the opioid problem decimating the country is local. Both problems impact the entire nation as a whole. Although on a local efforts, some initiatives have better results and prove to decrease the problem, through this Council, these change efforts can be replicated across the broader spectrum. I wish there were more details. But having worked with homeless populations under HUD grants, I know metrics through the ‘point-in-time’ counts, help to recognize the breadth of the problem. I’m not for growing government, but efforts that address root causes are also addressed, some of which are domestic violence, Vets with PTSD, substance use/abuse, etc., and what most won’t mention, lack of affordable housing, sometimes due to states like California (increase in homelessness noted) with an overly-regulated construction industry that is producing fewer homes and driving up the costs of rental properties.

I say yes with a few reservations. First off, this newer office should be kept financially limited in the scope of encouraging and helping the states find their own resources for combating homelessness in their jurisdictions. Secondly, this office should be a sub-office of Veteran Affairs because it is mainly targeting men and women in uniforms. Thirdly, this office should be working closely with food banks and homeless shelters that are already combating the homelessness in their areas and use these methods in a national effort. I am all for helping homeless people, but the scope and energy of the Federal government was made to unite the states and have a face for the foreign nations to look at. It was not built to help and maintain the domestic integrity of each and every state, that is why there are multiple republics in this great land of ours.

I recently moved back to CA from WA state, to a community that I am very familiar with, a large master planned community. Today there are men sleeping in front of retail stores, on street corners near traffic lights, in washes and parks. Some clean up in faucets outside of the grocery. You can see that some of the men are lost veterans, others are simply lost. All are Americans. WE must do what we can to set this right. Account for it, measure it, get it done. And for all u small government folks, why didn’t u say hell no to Trumps Multi BILLION$ Space Force. #PeopleFirst because they’re PEOPLE.

“Home Sweet Home”...so many of us are so fortunate to enjoy the meaning of those words. Yet, there remains millions more living on the streets-alone, and together in their own plight or even their own choice of living. We must do all we can to offer these fellow countrymen/women, the opportunity to live beyond this level of existence. They will always be with us.

Homelessness is a problem. We need to try to stop it.

HOMELESSNESS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE IN A DEMOCRACY. IT IS A SIGN OF POLITICAL SICKNESS.