hello - new to the Forum -
Homelessness - a true confession?? been one of my two greatest fears since around the age of forty.
Its been a possibility, - and I live where I do now by 'as much arse as class.' No -- I resile - I worked hard and was Lucky!!. My first true home.
And things 'change'.
So - what am I saying? I agree with Katanyavich. All homeless should be helped !!,
be they willing - irrespective of age - mental health - none of these things or their like - should mean a person is 'de-prioritised'! Yuk did I make that word up??
As to who is responsible - aren't we all? So - thats the prob - what's the solution? How can we solve it? I'm starting from scratch.
I do have some talent at problem solving, but I don't mean to sound like I know everything - what I'm going to say has probably been tried and ...that's way too much about me.!!!
there are practical acts that could be a start.
This assumes a number of people with the same goal, covering a wide geographical area.
So the first thing would be to bring together such a group - like on this Topic. In other words - organise. I.T provides so many options.
If govt's, big or small, are incompetent - due to their doctrine, time in Power, ineptitude, corruption, distance, ..whatever the excuse,
people must always, and often do, take up the challenge.
Then:
1-
Use all resources - eg., personal, friends, acquaintances, relevant state and fed officers, FOI, State records, Titles, info on boards, Twitter, facebook -wikileaks! anything a group may access, - to identify, in specific town/city areas, all available unused housing.
Be it public, private, unused, down for demo, for sale - all of it.
As someone pointed out earlier, there' s lots of it around, spread across many demarcation zones.
2-
Approach as necessary those responsible for the empty dwellings, or potential dwellings, seeking approval for utilisation of the relevant buildings. And find out what may be needed to do so.
3-
Speak to the homeless, talk about it with them !! Identify those interested in having a go, and where they would seek to be, and arrange it.
4-
Involve the building Holders. To assist in relocation and requirements. EG If the building needs work, or total make-over eg- Old Warehouses to Apartments. Old publicly owned structures convertible to provide homespace , etc.
5- DO IT!
I realise I am out of touch with now, in this context. And I have - personally - so far, not had to deal with it.
Therefore --- This topic being available for comment is most welcome .
So - apologies in advance to any who think I may have been denigrating those already doing what they possibly can. --- All good things to them.