Housing First

The supportive-housing strategy Destination: Home uses to address Homelessness in Santa Clara County. As described in Kyle’s notes, the approach tackles homelessness via “housing first” / supportive housing combined with homelessness prevention, aligning service interventions with new housing stock. The premise is to provide housing first and wrap services around it, rather than requiring people to resolve other issues before being housed.

The strategy was backed by data: a cost study (2005–2012) of the county’s cost of managing homelessness helped build voter support for a $950M supportive-housing bond. Chad Bojorquez is cited as describing Destination: Home’s mission and the cost study behind that bond.

Context: “Housing First” is an established homelessness-policy model that prioritizes giving people permanent housing without preconditions (such as sobriety or treatment compliance), then offering voluntary support services — contrasted with “treatment first” / staircase models.

Where this appears

• Homelessness — names “housing first” / supportive housing as the strategy Destination: Home is built to deploy, backed by a 2005–2012 cost study and a $950M bond.

From “Things To Internet”

• Sam Tsemberis — founder and CEO of Pathways to Housing, which he started in New York City in 1992 and where he developed the Housing First model; the program reported 88% of participants still housed after five years, versus 47% in the city’s residential treatment system (Wikipedia). Saved to Kyle’s Apple Note “Things To Internet” (c. mid-2015).