Categories: Press
11.06.2013
Article quotes Arturo Bendixen, a presenter at the Network's 2013 conference
The Washington Post ran a wonderful piece over the weekend on the benefits of supportive housing for tenants and taxpayers.
The story, published in the paper’s Wonkblog, highlights the social and financial impacts of supportive housing in Chicago. It tells the story of two particular tenants to reveal a larger truth: that supportive housing can drastically reduce a homeless person’s dependence on costly emergency services. With a modest home and proper supports, these individuals can find stability and, in turn, rely far less on taxpayer-funded systems.
University of Chicago Professor Harold Pollack, who wrote the piece, puts it quite nicely: “It’s hard to care for yourself when you have no place to sleep, when you lack a refrigerator for your diabetes medicines, when you have no private space to regroup as you experience whatever you are dealing with.”
Professor Pollack lays out both the humane and the fiscal arguments for our housing model. On the fiscal side, he cites this seminal 2009 study, which found that supportive housing reduces hospital, emergency room and nursing home visits among formerly homeless individuals.
He also quotes Arturo Bendixen of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Mr. Bendixen presented his findings on supportive housing and cost savings earlier this year at the Network’s 13th Annual New York State Supportive Housing Conference. You’ll find video of his presentation below. Click here to view his PowerPoint slides.