Guest John Maceri, chief executive officer of People Concern, an organization that tackles the multifaceted issues surrounding homelessness, joins host Robert Strock. The current cost per unit for permanent housing isn't tenable. People Concern's model is one way to cut costs and connect people with needed services. One of the ways to accomplish this is by leasing housing units from private landowners and managers and then sublet them to unsheltered people whose credit and job history may disqualify them under usual circumstances. The truth is that homlessness isn't cheap. People experiencing homelessness use first responders, emergency services, and hospitals as their medical care and often cycle in and out of the prison system as their only source of mental health resources. When connected with the right services and a permanent home through People Concern, expenses drop drastically.
The Pandemic has exposed the gaps in the fundamental inability of the current system to care for the most vulnerable of American society. Maceri stresses the need for elected officials who make permanent housing programs a priority, along with a financial model that makes financing affordable housing an investment instead of relying on a philanthropic venture. The most important and needed change—a drastic change in how the general public sees and perceives the unsheltered. When they're viewed as brothers, sisters, friends, and fellow human beings, solutions follow.
Listen to the episode and find out more at The Global Bridge Foundation
