Los Angeles Mission's Blog

Housing First – Services Second? Or Recovery First – Housing Second?

Herein is the dilemma of the decade. There are an increasing number of 10 year plans to end homelessness spearheaded by Philip Mangano with his tireless trips across this country. He deserves a great deal of applause for his unceasing efforts to “work the plan.”

Nobody disagrees that homeless need housing. Nobody disagrees that addicts and the mentally ill need services. Nobody disagrees that everyone needs education and training to get and sustain housing.

We do disagree on which comes first: the chicken or the egg? For this metaphor the chicken of housing or the egg of nurturing a person through recovery.

Two articles that contrast the issue well are:

This is from then Christian Science Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0226/p20s01-ussc.html deals with a Santa Monica program. The story is one of the many positive views of the housing first model. But read carefully as the story has a unique twist with a great outcome.

This one is from the Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/02/24/for_the_homeless_keys_to_a_home?mode=PF This story is less positive and more realistic about the problems when someone goes into housing without rehab or recovery first. Loneliness and addictions don’t just go away.

Which comes first? For the Los Angeles Mission we serve from a model of recovery first, housing second. We focus on issues that lead to homelessness. If the issue is purely economic and we realize our recovery programs are not needed then we do our best to find housing resources.

We do our best to offer hope and service to everyone who comes through our doors.

--Herb Smith, President