If we are providing more services and programs to try and solve homelessness, why does it seem like the problem is not getting any better?
A recent article in NPR helps explain this dilemma. “Over the past two decades, median rents went up a whopping 21%, but the median income for renters only went up 2%.”
One housing advocate writes, “Our homeless systems are really good at solving homelessness. But unfortunately our economic systems are even better at creating it.”
According to one San Diego media outlet, “For the 23rd month in a row, the number of people becoming homeless in San Diego County outpaced the number moving into homes. [The data shows] that 1,195 San Diegans became homeless for the first time in February 2024 and 1,041 exited homelessness.”
In Salem, the community has invested and developed a strong, supportive care network for unsheltered people. There are still lots of ways for that network to grow and improve, but organizations and programs like UGM, Simonka House, Arches, Salvation Army, Sleep Safe, Seed of Faith, and others are providing a wide array of necessary and life changing services for Salem’s unsheltered population. Because of this strong network of care, on a daily basis people are exiting homelessness.