#housing-first

#housing-first

The idea is simple, and supported by decades of research and data: It's almost impossible to address addiction issues if you're living on the streets. Requiring total sobriety as a condition of housing just makes the homeless crisis worse. As Dorsey freely admits, many people facing addiction issues relapse, and require multiple efforts to reach sobriety. That's much easier to handle when you have a roof over your head.

"If you know you need to get off of and away from drugs, you shouldn't be forced into housing where drug use is allowed and where recovery is not supported," he said. "Some folks won't go into housing because they know that it actually is dangerous for them because they're still experiencing an addiction. ... This isn't about having zero tolerance to drug use. It's about having environments where recovery is explicitly supported, and that is the goal."