One Size Doesn't Fit All

I love colloquialisms because they can take a big idea and pack it into an easy sentence or two that expresses a particular sentiment. We have all likely heard the phrase, "One size fits all." We get it. Sometimes we can make generalizations that are fairly accurate about lumping certain things together. But in other instances, this is not as easy or concise a job as this mantra proclaims.

Clearly, homeless people’s lives differ in many ways. The pattern of a person’s homelessness reveals a great deal about them and provides information about how to intervene in their lives in an effective manner. Take those who are newly homeless. People who are homeless for the first time and experiencing a single crisis may need relatively simple remedies, such as rental assistance, help negotiating with landlords, or referrals to public benefits or services. These are solutions that can specifically address their needs but would not be beneficial for other sorts of homeless individuals. Persons with repeated or long episodes of homelessness, however, are likely to need considerably more support for longer periods of time.

Using the most common type of data—surveys conducted at a single point in time—about one-fourth of homeless people report being continuously homeless for at least five years, and about one-fourth say they have gone in and out of homelessness numerous times. The rest are experiencing a first or second episode, which has usually lasted less than a year, or in some cases, only a few weeks or months. So it is apparent that 'one size does certainly not fit all.'

People who have weathered many episodes also tend to leave and return, or to leave and be replaced by others. Meanwhile, chronically homeless people remain without a place to live during the entire period. By the end of the year, chronically homeless people will make up a smaller number of the homeless population during the year than at a single point in time.

Data from the past 15 years indicates that the number of very poor people driven into homelessness for at least short periods has not diminished significantly. Families with children are still a large part of the mix. Over the past 15 years, the resources of the homeless service system, which gives people in desperate circumstances a place to go for help, have also increased. While essential, these services make visible and undeniable the severity of structural factors currently operating to produce homelessness.

So what are some solutions? With adequate housing resources, homelessness can also be averted for the many people who approach the homeless service system because they do not know where else to turn. Communities throughout the country that have committed such resources have developed a variety of effective programs to prevent homelessness.

It is our goal to eliminate homelessness in Kalispell, and we are counting on you to be a instrumental part of this equation. The first step is identifying some of the problems that are able to be addressed. From there, we can work together to build solutions that will change lives forever.