Want to end Homelessness? Here’s How

Without dwelling on how homelessness became epidemic, and what is short term vs. long term, I feel that the following suggestions applied together would eliminate homelessness. Not that any of them are easy, not that they aren’t immediately even possible, but we need to ask those in power to consider them. Not just once, but repeatedly, until the specter of homelessness is gone.

1. We have to get serious about affordable housing.

The average rent in Salt Lake City, where I live, is $1,235 for an apartment of just over 800 square feet. That’s more than what a person earning minimum wage makes all month. In order to afford that rent under the 30% rule, a single renter must earn more than $23 an hour, or $47,840. That’s a nearly unheard-of wage in Utah, even for college graduates. The median per capita income in Utah is only $29,775. So, people are routinely spending more than 30% of their income on rent alone, this puts them at risk for homelessness. This was before the pandemic, which has of course made everything much worse.

I met a lot of people during my time in the shelter who were only homeless because they became disabled, or they were on social security. The average income from disability is only $1,258. Social security provides an average of only $1,503 a month, depending on the lifetime earnings of the recipient. My wife…