This week's Inland Journal is all about Housing First. Housing First is an approach to getting people off the streets by prioritizing getting them housed before anything else.
SPR hosted Jonathan Mallahan, Phil Altmeyer, and Simon Moorby to discuss the possible merits and shortcomings of the approach.
Mallahan is the executive director of Catholic Housing Ventures, the housing affiliate for Catholic Charities. Altmeyer is the CEO of Union Gospel Mission, which, among other things, provides high barrier homeless shelters.
Moorby is the bar manager at Hogwash Whiskey Den. He has personal experience with both homelessness and addiction.
There's a lot going on in this conversation, but it might be helpful to keep two big questions in mind.
First, both Mallahan and Altmeyer come at their work from Christian convictions. They both feel deep personal calls to love their neighbor. You'll hear both of them repeatedly ask, what does it look like to love the vulnerable?
"Catholic Charities is not the only solution," Mallahan said. "We're not claiming to be the right solution for everyone. We're saying we're here to help some really vulnerable people unconditionally, just like Jesus did."
"I love Jesus' example. It was always an invitation," Altmeyer said. "I can only change myself. And to help an addict is to help him understand that...I believe the most important thing we can do is have a safe place for people to be healed. You don't put people in environments where other people are using and expect them to walk out of it."
"Are we here to help people, or are we here to save money?" Moorby said. "There's a vast difference there. And I find that a lot of this struggle, not just in this city but nationwide, is because we're trying to solve an economic issue while trying to save money."
Another question is, is housing a right or a reward? This seems to be at the heart of a lot of Spokane's housing conversations, so see if you can tease out how that question provides a backdrop for this conversation.
"I know of nothing in our society that rewards bad behavior and then works," Altmeyer said.
"So why don't we change who we allow and move forward in housing?"
"We're trying to create an environment where people have the opportunity to be alive and to change their lives," Mallahan said. "People die at a three times higher rate when they're not housed."
"I think that the community support in anything that we can do is the catalyst to change," Moorby said. "I think that's what inspires individuals, knowing they're not alone, knowing that someone cares, and knowing that their survival is not self-dependent, knowing that the help is there if they need it."
Inland Journal is SPR News' public affairs program. It airs every Thursday at 12:30 pm and Saturday at 2:30 pm.
