Homelessness has presented some of the most intractable challenges for the Bloomington area. The city and county have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to clear encampments as high housing costs and low wages are pushing more people into homelessness or to the brink, and a lack of addiction and mental health services keep many people trapped in a cycle between living in shelters and on the streets.
The path to homelessness:How one Bloomington veteran ended up sleeping in his truck
As Mayor-elect Kerry Thomson, who has a background in affordable housing, takes office in about a month, advocates for homeless people, city officials and academics recently offered some possible solutions to making homelessness rare, brief and non-repeating.
Solving homelessness with an emergency management approach
David Henry, an adjunct instructor at Indiana University’s Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, said rather than clearing camps of homeless people, communities could foster collaboration among government agencies and community organizations to help people long-term.
Henry, chair of the local Democratic Party, has lectured on, among other things, homeland security and emergency management policy.
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