1 00:00:15,076 --> 00:00:24,516 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Why can't we feed the world? Is it possible 2 00:00:24,596 --> 00:00:28,356 Speaker 1: to cure cancer? What will it take for governments and 3 00:00:28,476 --> 00:00:31,996 Speaker 1: citizens to commit to act on climate change? Why haven't 4 00:00:31,996 --> 00:00:34,436 Speaker 1: we solved the issue of equal pay for equal work? 5 00:00:34,676 --> 00:00:37,756 Speaker 1: Why are so many people trapped in work that doesn't 6 00:00:37,796 --> 00:00:42,556 Speaker 1: be in one of the world's richest countries. Yes, there's 7 00:00:42,596 --> 00:00:45,396 Speaker 1: a lot to worry about these days, but there are 8 00:00:45,516 --> 00:00:50,236 Speaker 1: so many people working on solutions. I may have Higgins 9 00:00:50,236 --> 00:00:54,276 Speaker 1: and this is solvable interviews with the world's biggest thinkers 10 00:00:54,516 --> 00:00:58,356 Speaker 1: who are working to solve the world's biggest problems. My 11 00:00:58,436 --> 00:01:01,236 Speaker 1: solvable is to get one million women and girls to 12 00:01:01,316 --> 00:01:04,196 Speaker 1: learn how to code by the year twenty twenty. My 13 00:01:04,356 --> 00:01:09,916 Speaker 1: solvable is that refugees and displaced people should have poverty raids, 14 00:01:09,916 --> 00:01:14,116 Speaker 1: inequality raids, lack of opportunity no greater than the rest 15 00:01:14,116 --> 00:01:17,356 Speaker 1: of the population. My solvable is to take energy to 16 00:01:17,356 --> 00:01:21,036 Speaker 1: where communities are. We are not going to solve poverty 17 00:01:21,196 --> 00:01:24,676 Speaker 1: in the twenty first century if we don't solve energy poverty. 18 00:01:24,996 --> 00:01:28,916 Speaker 1: I have a solvable too. It's sharing these solutions wherever 19 00:01:29,076 --> 00:01:32,196 Speaker 1: and however I can. I'm a contributing writer for The 20 00:01:32,196 --> 00:01:34,676 Speaker 1: New York Times and The host of the podcast Maybe 21 00:01:34,716 --> 00:01:39,516 Speaker 1: in America, Immigration IRL and the climate justice podcast Mothers 22 00:01:39,516 --> 00:01:43,516 Speaker 1: of Invention with Mary Robinson. I'm also a comedian and 23 00:01:43,556 --> 00:01:46,636 Speaker 1: I've performed all over the world. Now I live in 24 00:01:46,676 --> 00:01:49,876 Speaker 1: New York, where I write and podcasts about things I 25 00:01:49,956 --> 00:01:52,996 Speaker 1: care about, and I do so with some levity and 26 00:01:53,116 --> 00:01:57,396 Speaker 1: some hope because I think that's important. So does the 27 00:01:57,476 --> 00:02:01,436 Speaker 1: Rockefeller Foundation. And that's why we're making this podcast together 28 00:02:01,516 --> 00:02:05,116 Speaker 1: with Pushkin Industries, to introduce you to some of the 29 00:02:05,236 --> 00:02:09,076 Speaker 1: incredible people who are making a real difference to millions 30 00:02:09,316 --> 00:02:14,036 Speaker 1: of lives around the world. Get ready to be seriously inspired. 31 00:02:21,836 --> 00:02:26,316 Speaker 1: In this our first episode, Malcolm Gladwell interviews Rosanne Haggarty. 32 00:02:26,796 --> 00:02:31,956 Speaker 1: Rosanne is an internationally recognized leader in developing innovative strategies 33 00:02:31,996 --> 00:02:36,356 Speaker 1: to end homelessness and to strengthen communities. She's the president 34 00:02:36,356 --> 00:02:40,516 Speaker 1: and CEO of Community Solutions. That's an organization that helps 35 00:02:40,556 --> 00:02:43,636 Speaker 1: people around the world find what works where they live 36 00:02:44,036 --> 00:02:47,796 Speaker 1: to solve homelessness for every individual who needs that help. 37 00:02:48,596 --> 00:02:51,276 Speaker 1: Now a bit of context, because it's hard to understand 38 00:02:51,316 --> 00:02:54,796 Speaker 1: the scale of this problem without some numbers. More than 39 00:02:54,916 --> 00:02:58,436 Speaker 1: half a million people in the United States experience homelessness 40 00:02:58,436 --> 00:03:01,956 Speaker 1: on any given night, and nearly two hundred thousand of 41 00:03:01,996 --> 00:03:05,316 Speaker 1: those people are unsheltered. That means they're on the streets 42 00:03:05,356 --> 00:03:10,796 Speaker 1: without access to emergency shelters or transitional houses. But Rosanne 43 00:03:10,796 --> 00:03:14,556 Speaker 1: says that tackling this at the individual level is a 44 00:03:14,676 --> 00:03:19,796 Speaker 1: key to solving it for everyone. Her organization builds neighborhood 45 00:03:19,876 --> 00:03:24,836 Speaker 1: partnerships to bring together local residents and institutions to actually 46 00:03:24,916 --> 00:03:29,876 Speaker 1: change the conditions that produce homelessness. It's an approach Rosanne 47 00:03:29,876 --> 00:03:33,996 Speaker 1: has developed over nearly forty years of working on the problem. 48 00:03:34,236 --> 00:03:36,756 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen eighty two, she spent a year after 49 00:03:36,836 --> 00:03:39,836 Speaker 1: high school working in a homeless shelter right here in 50 00:03:39,876 --> 00:03:44,196 Speaker 1: New York. And that's one experience that's really fueled her activism. 51 00:03:44,916 --> 00:03:48,116 Speaker 1: As you'll hear, Rosanna Malcolm know each other. Back in 52 00:03:48,156 --> 00:03:51,156 Speaker 1: two thousand and six, Malcolm wrote a New Yorker article 53 00:03:51,236 --> 00:03:54,756 Speaker 1: called million Dollar Murray about why it may be easier 54 00:03:54,836 --> 00:03:59,556 Speaker 1: to solve rather than just manage homelessness. That piece really 55 00:03:59,636 --> 00:04:02,716 Speaker 1: rang true for Rosanne, and they catch up on development 56 00:04:02,796 --> 00:04:06,156 Speaker 1: since then. All right, let's take a listen and i'll 57 00:04:06,156 --> 00:04:10,956 Speaker 1: talk to you after. I think it's significant that in 58 00:04:11,076 --> 00:04:13,956 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, The problem of homelessness in New York 59 00:04:13,996 --> 00:04:20,396 Speaker 1: City was of a very relatively small scale. It was growing, 60 00:04:20,636 --> 00:04:24,036 Speaker 1: It was terrible for people experiencing it, but it was 61 00:04:24,076 --> 00:04:27,716 Speaker 1: possible to believe as a young person that this was 62 00:04:27,756 --> 00:04:31,716 Speaker 1: an entirely containable and solvable problem. No one had good 63 00:04:31,756 --> 00:04:34,716 Speaker 1: information there, but the estimates were maybe three thousand people 64 00:04:34,836 --> 00:04:39,396 Speaker 1: in a city of pushing eight million. My overwhelming impression 65 00:04:39,516 --> 00:04:44,836 Speaker 1: was we're asking the wrong questions. I remember thinking there 66 00:04:44,916 --> 00:04:48,836 Speaker 1: was this huge disconnect between what our ideas were the 67 00:04:48,876 --> 00:04:52,796 Speaker 1: people kind of responsible for identifying or naming the problem, 68 00:04:52,836 --> 00:04:56,196 Speaker 1: and what the young people or the women were saying. 69 00:04:56,796 --> 00:05:01,156 Speaker 1: These young people were looking for help with finding a 70 00:05:01,156 --> 00:05:05,316 Speaker 1: place to live, finding a job, and my instructions as 71 00:05:05,316 --> 00:05:07,476 Speaker 1: a volunteer was how to turn on the coffee and 72 00:05:07,476 --> 00:05:09,236 Speaker 1: put away the cots in the morning. No one had 73 00:05:09,476 --> 00:05:12,236 Speaker 1: given us any information about how to help people connect 74 00:05:12,236 --> 00:05:14,596 Speaker 1: with the things they needed, and so it was that 75 00:05:14,676 --> 00:05:17,756 Speaker 1: sense of disconnect and sort of the gap between what 76 00:05:18,276 --> 00:05:22,156 Speaker 1: people experiencing the problem we're seeking and what we were 77 00:05:22,196 --> 00:05:25,916 Speaker 1: set up to provide that I think really plunge me 78 00:05:25,916 --> 00:05:28,796 Speaker 1: into this work permanently, that you know, there is a 79 00:05:28,836 --> 00:05:32,076 Speaker 1: sense of we're coming about this in a way that 80 00:05:32,116 --> 00:05:34,556 Speaker 1: doesn't match the nature of the problem. You talk to 81 00:05:34,636 --> 00:05:37,436 Speaker 1: me about housing first, because as an outsider it is 82 00:05:37,436 --> 00:05:40,556 Speaker 1: not obvious to us. If you ask me naively, I 83 00:05:40,556 --> 00:05:42,956 Speaker 1: would have said the opposite. You need to get people, 84 00:05:43,796 --> 00:05:48,796 Speaker 1: you know, their mental health issues, address their employment, dealt 85 00:05:48,876 --> 00:05:51,796 Speaker 1: with their family life straightened out before you get them 86 00:05:51,836 --> 00:05:54,116 Speaker 1: stabilized and housing. And you see, and this idea is 87 00:05:54,116 --> 00:05:57,676 Speaker 1: the opposite of that housing first, right, Housing first has 88 00:05:57,756 --> 00:06:03,356 Speaker 1: become a hugely important principle, but still not completely and 89 00:06:03,476 --> 00:06:05,796 Speaker 1: fully adopted. But think of it, this is something we 90 00:06:05,836 --> 00:06:08,596 Speaker 1: all know. How are we going to accomplish anything in 91 00:06:08,636 --> 00:06:13,236 Speaker 1: our lives, hold a job, maintain stable relationships, manage our 92 00:06:13,276 --> 00:06:15,076 Speaker 1: health that we don't have a stable place to live. 93 00:06:15,516 --> 00:06:18,556 Speaker 1: And this notion of stable housing is just so basic. 94 00:06:18,676 --> 00:06:23,676 Speaker 1: But in fact, for many years it became inverted, as 95 00:06:23,676 --> 00:06:25,676 Speaker 1: you say, Malcolm, where you know, there's a sense that 96 00:06:25,796 --> 00:06:27,956 Speaker 1: people needed to have insight into their mental illness, or 97 00:06:27,996 --> 00:06:30,556 Speaker 1: needed to be clean and sober, or needed this needed 98 00:06:30,596 --> 00:06:35,196 Speaker 1: that housing was conditional on behavior, and in fact people's 99 00:06:35,636 --> 00:06:39,476 Speaker 1: other conditions they vastly improve, you know, once there's a 100 00:06:39,516 --> 00:06:43,756 Speaker 1: stable environment for them to live in and to manage 101 00:06:43,796 --> 00:06:47,876 Speaker 1: their other needs from and the fact that this still 102 00:06:48,036 --> 00:06:52,196 Speaker 1: is contested is one of the things that really needs 103 00:06:52,196 --> 00:06:56,116 Speaker 1: to be challenged everywhere. You'll still find places where like, well, 104 00:06:56,196 --> 00:06:58,396 Speaker 1: let's study it one more time. But in fact it's 105 00:06:58,396 --> 00:07:01,316 Speaker 1: something that we all know. Imagine our lives without a 106 00:07:01,316 --> 00:07:03,876 Speaker 1: stable place to live. There's three things and you can 107 00:07:03,916 --> 00:07:06,076 Speaker 1: add to this list. One is the housing fresh principle. 108 00:07:06,116 --> 00:07:08,596 Speaker 1: Two is the question of the resources argument, and third 109 00:07:08,676 --> 00:07:11,036 Speaker 1: is the question of tools. And I realize that tools 110 00:07:11,076 --> 00:07:13,436 Speaker 1: is the new one, the really interesting one that you've 111 00:07:13,436 --> 00:07:15,556 Speaker 1: gotten very involved in. But let's talk a little bit 112 00:07:15,596 --> 00:07:20,236 Speaker 1: about this resources question, because the second great impediment to 113 00:07:20,356 --> 00:07:24,316 Speaker 1: communities addressing their homelessness issue is the notion that it 114 00:07:24,396 --> 00:07:27,716 Speaker 1: will bankrupt them. Well, the interesting thing, Malcolm, and you're 115 00:07:27,756 --> 00:07:31,956 Speaker 1: actually a character in this story, is that communities are 116 00:07:31,996 --> 00:07:36,316 Speaker 1: spending a fortune not solving the problem of homelessness. The 117 00:07:36,476 --> 00:07:39,636 Speaker 1: costs are showing up typically and most profoundly in the 118 00:07:39,636 --> 00:07:42,996 Speaker 1: healthcare system, but also in the criminal justice system. And 119 00:07:43,036 --> 00:07:50,116 Speaker 1: when you look at across communities, the burden of this unresolved, 120 00:07:50,836 --> 00:07:56,756 Speaker 1: solvable problem on communities is profound. Ask any librarian the country, 121 00:07:56,796 --> 00:08:02,156 Speaker 1: any emt, any police officer, any court officer, our public workforce, 122 00:08:02,276 --> 00:08:06,556 Speaker 1: teachers dealing with children who are living in shelters, the 123 00:08:06,716 --> 00:08:09,676 Speaker 1: emergency room, nurses. You just go down the list of 124 00:08:09,676 --> 00:08:13,916 Speaker 1: our public workforce and the degree to which their jobs 125 00:08:13,916 --> 00:08:19,156 Speaker 1: are consumed trying to respond in a humane way to 126 00:08:19,516 --> 00:08:22,956 Speaker 1: those in a situation that is itself solvable. So the 127 00:08:22,996 --> 00:08:26,436 Speaker 1: costs are spread all over the place, and yet communities, 128 00:08:26,836 --> 00:08:30,996 Speaker 1: i think, seeing to build housing or to subsidize it, 129 00:08:31,076 --> 00:08:33,316 Speaker 1: or to attach mental health resources, we can't afford to 130 00:08:33,356 --> 00:08:38,436 Speaker 1: do this. You are paying these costs anyway and creating 131 00:08:38,756 --> 00:08:44,556 Speaker 1: an environment of everyone losing, as well as trapping individuals 132 00:08:44,556 --> 00:08:47,796 Speaker 1: and families in a state of limbo, which is so 133 00:08:47,916 --> 00:08:53,276 Speaker 1: much more humanely and efficiently addressed with just dealing with 134 00:08:53,636 --> 00:08:56,796 Speaker 1: getting them into a stable housing situation. So this proposition 135 00:08:56,836 --> 00:09:00,556 Speaker 1: that homelessness is more expensive to ignore than it is 136 00:09:01,236 --> 00:09:05,396 Speaker 1: to solve. Tell me why. That's what's hard about making 137 00:09:05,396 --> 00:09:09,676 Speaker 1: that argument. Well, let me go back to the point 138 00:09:09,716 --> 00:09:13,356 Speaker 1: of your being a character in the drama Malcolm You 139 00:09:13,436 --> 00:09:16,676 Speaker 1: who wrote really a seminal piece in The New Yorker 140 00:09:17,436 --> 00:09:21,036 Speaker 1: called Million Dollar Murray and explored through the life of 141 00:09:21,076 --> 00:09:24,596 Speaker 1: this one sort of iconic figure in Reno Nevada, who 142 00:09:24,676 --> 00:09:28,396 Speaker 1: was known to everyone, this individual who needed someone to 143 00:09:28,516 --> 00:09:32,716 Speaker 1: basically take responsibility for seeing that his rent was paid 144 00:09:32,796 --> 00:09:35,196 Speaker 1: and that he had some structure in his life and 145 00:09:35,316 --> 00:09:38,196 Speaker 1: the counseling support he needed when he needed it, that 146 00:09:38,276 --> 00:09:41,676 Speaker 1: he was actually doing well with just a basic structure 147 00:09:41,676 --> 00:09:45,836 Speaker 1: of participating in a community program. For want of that 148 00:09:46,676 --> 00:09:51,276 Speaker 1: kind of coordination and accountability, this poor man bounced in 149 00:09:51,276 --> 00:09:55,636 Speaker 1: and out of the emergency room, rehab programs, the court system, jails, 150 00:09:56,276 --> 00:09:59,236 Speaker 1: running up a bill of over a million dollars in 151 00:09:59,436 --> 00:10:03,436 Speaker 1: municipal services over the period of time before his premature death. 152 00:10:03,956 --> 00:10:08,276 Speaker 1: And so it's because no one sees the picture hole 153 00:10:08,676 --> 00:10:12,516 Speaker 1: on home less, we're allowed to think that this is 154 00:10:12,556 --> 00:10:16,196 Speaker 1: actually kind of a marginal or a low cost problem, 155 00:10:16,316 --> 00:10:19,116 Speaker 1: or dwell in the myth that these are individuals who 156 00:10:19,116 --> 00:10:23,876 Speaker 1: are making a choice to opt out of society or services, 157 00:10:23,916 --> 00:10:28,636 Speaker 1: and in fact, what we've found is someone taking responsibility 158 00:10:28,636 --> 00:10:31,916 Speaker 1: for seeing that each person who is in this overwhelmed 159 00:10:31,956 --> 00:10:35,556 Speaker 1: state actually has a stable place to live in enough 160 00:10:35,676 --> 00:10:39,316 Speaker 1: structure and support in their lives. Costs a fraction of 161 00:10:39,356 --> 00:10:44,396 Speaker 1: what all of this diffuse misery and municipal burden actually 162 00:10:44,556 --> 00:10:47,676 Speaker 1: ends up costing, but it's getting to that point where 163 00:10:47,716 --> 00:10:50,836 Speaker 1: everyone is accounted for and everyone has a plan. And 164 00:10:51,316 --> 00:10:53,476 Speaker 1: the thing that we have discovered in our work with 165 00:10:53,516 --> 00:10:56,276 Speaker 1: many communities around the country now is that it's very 166 00:10:56,276 --> 00:11:00,516 Speaker 1: possible to get there. That in no community, even communities 167 00:11:00,596 --> 00:11:03,916 Speaker 1: that feel overwhelmed by homelessness, is the number of those 168 00:11:04,316 --> 00:11:07,716 Speaker 1: experiencing homelessness more than a fraction of one percent of 169 00:11:07,716 --> 00:11:11,156 Speaker 1: their population. This is a total last mile problem. And 170 00:11:11,196 --> 00:11:15,036 Speaker 1: if we grab the picture whole and have that community 171 00:11:15,116 --> 00:11:18,356 Speaker 1: level accountability, we find that there are many more assets, 172 00:11:18,436 --> 00:11:22,156 Speaker 1: many more solutions than communities have imagined. I'm trying to 173 00:11:22,156 --> 00:11:25,196 Speaker 1: get a sense of the level of kind of baseline 174 00:11:25,236 --> 00:11:28,956 Speaker 1: resistance to these arguments you're making. Are you saying that 175 00:11:29,676 --> 00:11:33,076 Speaker 1: this is a tough sell? I'll say where the resistance 176 00:11:33,116 --> 00:11:36,796 Speaker 1: typically comes from, that it's a leadership gap that that 177 00:11:36,916 --> 00:11:40,236 Speaker 1: person who or a group of people who are well 178 00:11:40,276 --> 00:11:44,716 Speaker 1: positioned to basically call it out, that you know, they 179 00:11:44,756 --> 00:11:48,836 Speaker 1: are blocked from doing that for whatever reason they don't 180 00:11:48,836 --> 00:11:52,956 Speaker 1: feel they have the political support. There are internal conflicts. 181 00:11:53,316 --> 00:11:56,636 Speaker 1: I did not coin the phrase the homeless industrial complex, 182 00:11:57,036 --> 00:12:01,396 Speaker 1: but as in so many areas of failure, frankly, in 183 00:12:01,476 --> 00:12:06,076 Speaker 1: terms of our civic life. You are, as an organization 184 00:12:06,276 --> 00:12:09,676 Speaker 1: or an agency rewarded for maintaining this at us quo. 185 00:12:10,276 --> 00:12:17,956 Speaker 1: So there's resistance for reasons of leadership, inertia, fear about 186 00:12:17,996 --> 00:12:21,476 Speaker 1: you know, what will happen to my organization or my 187 00:12:21,636 --> 00:12:26,396 Speaker 1: job at the agency. And there's also just in larger cities, 188 00:12:27,156 --> 00:12:31,636 Speaker 1: still this myth of the overwhelming nature of the problem, 189 00:12:32,196 --> 00:12:36,796 Speaker 1: and that's the way the problem is reported, typically bad 190 00:12:36,836 --> 00:12:41,436 Speaker 1: getting worse. We've done media scans to look at you know, 191 00:12:41,556 --> 00:12:45,116 Speaker 1: where are the solutions stories on homelessness, and I would 192 00:12:45,116 --> 00:12:48,476 Speaker 1: say community solutions and the communities we're working with who 193 00:12:48,476 --> 00:12:51,156 Speaker 1: are seeing these profound shifts. We have a job to 194 00:12:51,196 --> 00:12:54,156 Speaker 1: do on communications that I think is part of what 195 00:12:54,276 --> 00:12:57,556 Speaker 1: needs to happen next. That there are these communities that 196 00:12:57,596 --> 00:13:01,356 Speaker 1: are now solving the problem, have ended chronic or veteran homelessness, 197 00:13:01,436 --> 00:13:04,916 Speaker 1: are seeing steady month over month reductions, but we are 198 00:13:04,956 --> 00:13:08,156 Speaker 1: still in a world that is convinced that this is 199 00:13:08,556 --> 00:13:11,916 Speaker 1: not a solved problem despite the evidence, but with no 200 00:13:12,036 --> 00:13:15,396 Speaker 1: clear endgame. Let's talk a little about these tools that 201 00:13:15,436 --> 00:13:19,716 Speaker 1: allow you to see the problem. That's what you're talking about, right, 202 00:13:19,756 --> 00:13:22,196 Speaker 1: You need to be able to see this problem. How 203 00:13:22,236 --> 00:13:26,876 Speaker 1: does one go about visualizing in real time the problem 204 00:13:26,876 --> 00:13:30,876 Speaker 1: of homelessness in a given community. What we have found 205 00:13:31,236 --> 00:13:34,676 Speaker 1: is the real breakthrough moment, and we learn this with 206 00:13:34,756 --> 00:13:38,036 Speaker 1: our communities. We've been working this problem a long time now, 207 00:13:38,556 --> 00:13:41,596 Speaker 1: and it was realizing that you need by name, real 208 00:13:41,636 --> 00:13:46,836 Speaker 1: time information on who's experiencing homelessness in a community and how. Now, 209 00:13:46,916 --> 00:13:49,996 Speaker 1: homelessness we've come to see is like saying we've got 210 00:13:49,996 --> 00:13:52,716 Speaker 1: a sickness issue in our community. It tells you nothing. 211 00:13:52,836 --> 00:13:55,676 Speaker 1: You need to know exactly how and what. Was there 212 00:13:55,716 --> 00:13:58,596 Speaker 1: a family break up issue last night and that needs 213 00:13:58,676 --> 00:14:01,996 Speaker 1: some quick intervention in repair? Or is there a chronict 214 00:14:02,036 --> 00:14:04,116 Speaker 1: mental health problem and you've been on the street for 215 00:14:04,156 --> 00:14:07,556 Speaker 1: thirty years, Totally different conditions that require different groups of 216 00:14:07,596 --> 00:14:12,356 Speaker 1: people to collaborate and respond, and often organizations that have 217 00:14:12,956 --> 00:14:14,516 Speaker 1: not a whole lot to do with homelessness. You know, 218 00:14:14,596 --> 00:14:18,276 Speaker 1: it's domestic violence agency, it's it's medicaid. You know that 219 00:14:18,756 --> 00:14:21,036 Speaker 1: these other failures show up in homelessness, and if no 220 00:14:21,036 --> 00:14:25,716 Speaker 1: one's asking the right questions, then the problem just compounds. 221 00:14:25,756 --> 00:14:29,116 Speaker 1: And so the first step we discovered is helping communities 222 00:14:29,396 --> 00:14:33,116 Speaker 1: develop quality data that means you basically need to know 223 00:14:33,636 --> 00:14:37,596 Speaker 1: with a very high degree of reliability. Are you accounting 224 00:14:37,636 --> 00:14:39,796 Speaker 1: for everyone? And so that means that you need to 225 00:14:39,836 --> 00:14:43,116 Speaker 1: have in the room all of the outreach teams, the 226 00:14:43,196 --> 00:14:46,236 Speaker 1: soup kitchens, the shelters. Everyone in a community who is 227 00:14:46,236 --> 00:14:50,676 Speaker 1: touching the problem needs to basically share information on who 228 00:14:50,676 --> 00:14:54,316 Speaker 1: they're working with and get signed releases from those individuals 229 00:14:54,316 --> 00:14:56,836 Speaker 1: and families so that they can be helped to get 230 00:14:56,876 --> 00:14:59,796 Speaker 1: out of the situation or avoid it altogether. Getting to 231 00:14:59,796 --> 00:15:02,916 Speaker 1: a point where you know in real time what's actually 232 00:15:02,916 --> 00:15:06,716 Speaker 1: happening and how the problem is moving and changing, because 233 00:15:07,156 --> 00:15:12,156 Speaker 1: that very highly specific information will allow you to see 234 00:15:12,636 --> 00:15:16,876 Speaker 1: where you're housing placement rate needs to be increased, where 235 00:15:16,916 --> 00:15:20,396 Speaker 1: you have problems with certain agencies, or certain conditions or 236 00:15:20,436 --> 00:15:24,996 Speaker 1: certain events in your communities that are creating incidents of homelessness. 237 00:15:25,396 --> 00:15:29,876 Speaker 1: And in that context of having the full picture and 238 00:15:29,996 --> 00:15:33,116 Speaker 1: being able to see the shifts, communities can be trained 239 00:15:33,396 --> 00:15:37,276 Speaker 1: and have been trained to use quality improvement human centered design. 240 00:15:37,356 --> 00:15:41,876 Speaker 1: How you facilitate meetings across different sectors, basically, how you 241 00:15:41,956 --> 00:15:44,196 Speaker 1: keep coming back to that shared goal of are we 242 00:15:44,316 --> 00:15:47,076 Speaker 1: reducing and getting closer to zero. Let's walk through a 243 00:15:47,436 --> 00:15:52,716 Speaker 1: hypothetical example. I am the mayor of a city of 244 00:15:52,716 --> 00:15:56,796 Speaker 1: two hundred and fifty thousand in Ohio, I have a 245 00:15:56,836 --> 00:16:01,236 Speaker 1: homelessness problem. I'll call you up. Question number one. If 246 00:16:01,276 --> 00:16:04,556 Speaker 1: I have none of these systems in place, do I 247 00:16:04,676 --> 00:16:07,636 Speaker 1: know how many homeless people I have? Probably not. You 248 00:16:07,716 --> 00:16:12,116 Speaker 1: probably are relying on your annual point in time count 249 00:16:12,556 --> 00:16:17,196 Speaker 1: that is mandated by HUD, and that's at best an estimate. 250 00:16:17,356 --> 00:16:20,476 Speaker 1: We have found it's wildly off on a general basis. 251 00:16:20,476 --> 00:16:25,676 Speaker 1: When you can off by two hundred wow. Yeah, so 252 00:16:25,796 --> 00:16:28,396 Speaker 1: like you really don't know what's going on, but you 253 00:16:28,476 --> 00:16:30,836 Speaker 1: have that snap off just because this population is so 254 00:16:30,916 --> 00:16:35,756 Speaker 1: transitory and hard to find, and well, there are various 255 00:16:36,076 --> 00:16:39,436 Speaker 1: methodologies that HUD will accept as an acceptable way of 256 00:16:39,436 --> 00:16:42,076 Speaker 1: getting to an estimate. So there's great variability in that. 257 00:16:42,796 --> 00:16:47,636 Speaker 1: And then there's a coverage issue. Typically communities don't have 258 00:16:47,996 --> 00:16:51,596 Speaker 1: in one night the ability to really understand fully what's 259 00:16:51,636 --> 00:16:54,836 Speaker 1: going on. And then, as you point out, there's the variability. 260 00:16:55,036 --> 00:16:58,236 Speaker 1: Just what's happening on you one day is not what's 261 00:16:58,276 --> 00:17:01,436 Speaker 1: happening across the course of a year. As someone has said, 262 00:17:01,756 --> 00:17:04,236 Speaker 1: you know, a snapshot is the wrong method. You need 263 00:17:04,276 --> 00:17:07,196 Speaker 1: a video to understand what's going on with with homelessness. 264 00:17:07,876 --> 00:17:11,116 Speaker 1: As a mayor, you're probably the best information you've got 265 00:17:11,236 --> 00:17:15,596 Speaker 1: is wildly wrong plus or minus. And then the second thing, 266 00:17:16,196 --> 00:17:18,876 Speaker 1: that point in time count tells you nothing that's actionable. 267 00:17:18,916 --> 00:17:21,876 Speaker 1: It doesn't tell you who in that population you think 268 00:17:21,916 --> 00:17:25,716 Speaker 1: you have that is experiencing homelessness actually has a one 269 00:17:25,836 --> 00:17:29,716 Speaker 1: night problem versus a thirty year problem, And so you 270 00:17:29,756 --> 00:17:32,156 Speaker 1: have no idea like who's going to correct the problem themselves, 271 00:17:32,156 --> 00:17:35,036 Speaker 1: which is the principal way people escape homelessness by the 272 00:17:35,076 --> 00:17:38,036 Speaker 1: way they sort it out, versus who we're going to 273 00:17:38,076 --> 00:17:40,876 Speaker 1: need to actively intervene to help and kind of get 274 00:17:40,876 --> 00:17:43,516 Speaker 1: everybody around the same table in order to accomplish that. 275 00:17:43,876 --> 00:17:46,116 Speaker 1: Here's the people that you need to bring to the 276 00:17:46,156 --> 00:17:49,916 Speaker 1: first meeting. You need the coalition of not for profits 277 00:17:49,916 --> 00:17:52,076 Speaker 1: that's receiving money from HUT. You need the head of 278 00:17:52,116 --> 00:17:54,836 Speaker 1: your housing authority, and you need your local VA Medical 279 00:17:54,916 --> 00:17:58,796 Speaker 1: center director. Get those folks in a room, and that's 280 00:17:58,836 --> 00:18:01,716 Speaker 1: the starting point. They're the core team, and it's that 281 00:18:01,796 --> 00:18:04,396 Speaker 1: group that has to commit to solving the same problem. 282 00:18:04,716 --> 00:18:07,196 Speaker 1: Like we're all here to actually get to an end state, 283 00:18:07,236 --> 00:18:10,236 Speaker 1: which is zero, which is that we don't have chronic homelessness. 284 00:18:10,756 --> 00:18:15,556 Speaker 1: When you say collect data on these people talking about 285 00:18:15,596 --> 00:18:18,196 Speaker 1: that means so you need to know one's name, you 286 00:18:18,236 --> 00:18:23,556 Speaker 1: need to have a medical history, a background, you profile 287 00:18:23,596 --> 00:18:27,836 Speaker 1: of me correct. Most communities are using a common assessment 288 00:18:27,836 --> 00:18:29,596 Speaker 1: tool now I think they're about two hundred a least 289 00:18:29,596 --> 00:18:32,356 Speaker 1: two undred community who were using an assessment tool that 290 00:18:32,556 --> 00:18:37,236 Speaker 1: basically gets your identity, but also self reported medical conditions 291 00:18:37,236 --> 00:18:40,596 Speaker 1: that correlate with what we know about premature death. Homelessness 292 00:18:40,676 --> 00:18:44,596 Speaker 1: is a more lethal condition than most cancers, frankly, and 293 00:18:44,676 --> 00:18:48,116 Speaker 1: also some of the critical information that can allow a 294 00:18:48,156 --> 00:18:53,116 Speaker 1: community to help match you with resources that can enable 295 00:18:53,156 --> 00:18:56,556 Speaker 1: you to escape homelessness, like do you have a history 296 00:18:56,556 --> 00:18:59,276 Speaker 1: of being in the foster care system? Are you over 297 00:18:59,316 --> 00:19:01,996 Speaker 1: the age of sixty or sixty five and therefore qualify 298 00:19:02,116 --> 00:19:05,116 Speaker 1: for senior housing programs? For instance? Are you are you 299 00:19:05,156 --> 00:19:09,876 Speaker 1: someone who's a veteran. That information already surfaces for communities 300 00:19:10,076 --> 00:19:11,916 Speaker 1: more than what they had to go on in terms 301 00:19:11,916 --> 00:19:15,236 Speaker 1: of the range of housing resources they already have access 302 00:19:15,276 --> 00:19:19,636 Speaker 1: to that maybe are not fully deployed or efficiently matched 303 00:19:19,716 --> 00:19:22,756 Speaker 1: to people who would qualify for them. And so it's 304 00:19:22,796 --> 00:19:25,796 Speaker 1: that basic information like a LinkedIn page for the that's 305 00:19:25,796 --> 00:19:28,116 Speaker 1: a good way of thinking of it for homeless population. 306 00:19:28,556 --> 00:19:30,236 Speaker 1: So you say to me, Malcolm, you've got to know 307 00:19:31,156 --> 00:19:34,356 Speaker 1: the names and backgrounds of your homeless population, and then 308 00:19:34,396 --> 00:19:38,356 Speaker 1: you have to create this kind of video as opposed 309 00:19:38,356 --> 00:19:41,236 Speaker 1: to a snapshot. What do I learn from my video? 310 00:19:41,636 --> 00:19:44,996 Speaker 1: How much movement is there in this video that you're creating. 311 00:19:45,796 --> 00:19:49,276 Speaker 1: What you will see in communities that have this quality 312 00:19:49,356 --> 00:19:54,196 Speaker 1: by name data is every month, at the very least 313 00:19:54,636 --> 00:19:58,196 Speaker 1: often every week or every day. You'll see how many 314 00:19:58,236 --> 00:20:02,796 Speaker 1: individuals are moving out of homelessness. Who has been directly 315 00:20:02,836 --> 00:20:06,116 Speaker 1: assisted housed in a variety of ways, first months, run 316 00:20:06,196 --> 00:20:09,556 Speaker 1: security deposit, or we've reconnected you with family, or we've 317 00:20:09,556 --> 00:20:12,796 Speaker 1: matched you to a housing resource. How many people have 318 00:20:12,876 --> 00:20:16,676 Speaker 1: been housed, How many people that you have had in 319 00:20:16,716 --> 00:20:20,396 Speaker 1: your system since you first had that quality data established, 320 00:20:20,596 --> 00:20:23,516 Speaker 1: who have just gone off the radar, they remain on 321 00:20:23,876 --> 00:20:26,556 Speaker 1: what we call an inactive list, but accounts for the 322 00:20:26,636 --> 00:20:29,796 Speaker 1: first time for this phenomenon that all of us who've 323 00:20:29,836 --> 00:20:32,636 Speaker 1: been doing this work have always understood that most people 324 00:20:32,676 --> 00:20:36,596 Speaker 1: who experience homelessness resolve it themselves, and so at least 325 00:20:36,596 --> 00:20:40,516 Speaker 1: by moving people to you're still aware of them, but 326 00:20:40,636 --> 00:20:43,236 Speaker 1: you're not like holding a voucher for them. You're not 327 00:20:43,356 --> 00:20:45,756 Speaker 1: like jamming up a waiting list, thinking where are they. 328 00:20:46,076 --> 00:20:49,316 Speaker 1: The assumption becomes they have self resolved, but they come 329 00:20:49,316 --> 00:20:51,476 Speaker 1: back and they don't lose their place if something else 330 00:20:51,476 --> 00:20:54,836 Speaker 1: has happened, and so on. You have outflow information to 331 00:20:54,916 --> 00:20:59,156 Speaker 1: show how you're performing in ratcheting up your housing placements 332 00:20:59,236 --> 00:21:02,756 Speaker 1: and the effectiveness of your matching system. And then on 333 00:21:02,796 --> 00:21:06,716 Speaker 1: the inflow side, you're looking at who is new into 334 00:21:06,756 --> 00:21:11,516 Speaker 1: homelessness this month or this week, who has returned to homelessness, 335 00:21:11,556 --> 00:21:15,516 Speaker 1: who we assisted in the past, and who have we 336 00:21:15,796 --> 00:21:18,476 Speaker 1: seen come back from that inactive list. I want to 337 00:21:18,476 --> 00:21:21,156 Speaker 1: go some for examples. Let's do some very specific so 338 00:21:21,196 --> 00:21:23,236 Speaker 1: I'm going to give you a for example and tell 339 00:21:23,236 --> 00:21:26,116 Speaker 1: me whether it's realistic. You come to me and you say, Malcolm, 340 00:21:26,116 --> 00:21:28,716 Speaker 1: in your city, we've looked at your movie and we've 341 00:21:28,756 --> 00:21:35,516 Speaker 1: discovered huge percentage of your homeless population is disabled bets. 342 00:21:36,436 --> 00:21:40,036 Speaker 1: That is a great example to unpack, for instance, throughout 343 00:21:40,036 --> 00:21:43,196 Speaker 1: the country. And it's been a commitment of the VA 344 00:21:43,396 --> 00:21:46,836 Speaker 1: since two and ten to end veteran homelessness. There are 345 00:21:46,876 --> 00:21:53,556 Speaker 1: sufficient resources allocated to house every remaining veteran who's experiencing homelessness. 346 00:21:53,876 --> 00:21:56,556 Speaker 1: The number is just under forty thousand based on the 347 00:21:56,556 --> 00:22:01,396 Speaker 1: best estimates. The problem has been finding and connecting those 348 00:22:01,516 --> 00:22:06,156 Speaker 1: individuals or heads of families two housing resources, and so 349 00:22:06,516 --> 00:22:09,716 Speaker 1: immediately you see you need this kind of collective, accountable 350 00:22:09,756 --> 00:22:13,556 Speaker 1: structure in order to get the job done. So if 351 00:22:13,836 --> 00:22:17,476 Speaker 1: there are veterans remaining homeless in a community, that's not 352 00:22:17,556 --> 00:22:20,556 Speaker 1: a problem of resources. It's a problem of do you 353 00:22:20,596 --> 00:22:23,676 Speaker 1: have landlords who are unwilling to accept the VA support 354 00:22:23,676 --> 00:22:28,556 Speaker 1: of housing vouchers? Do you have programs that are inadvertently 355 00:22:28,956 --> 00:22:32,196 Speaker 1: keeping veterans homeless because they are operating a shelter and 356 00:22:32,236 --> 00:22:36,476 Speaker 1: they're not plugged into the housing resources. What this data 357 00:22:36,516 --> 00:22:41,116 Speaker 1: will surface is why are we not connecting the dots 358 00:22:41,236 --> 00:22:45,116 Speaker 1: in more effective ways? Because what I really am describing 359 00:22:45,116 --> 00:22:47,516 Speaker 1: I think that's happened in communities MALACOLM is a cultural 360 00:22:47,556 --> 00:22:50,516 Speaker 1: shift where once you say like this is actually a 361 00:22:50,516 --> 00:22:53,676 Speaker 1: solvable problem, and it's on us, the people who are 362 00:22:53,836 --> 00:22:57,316 Speaker 1: awareness of the resources, including where are the private landlords, 363 00:22:57,356 --> 00:22:59,796 Speaker 1: who are the different organizations have resources. It's up to 364 00:22:59,916 --> 00:23:04,156 Speaker 1: us to coordinate and be accountable for a result, not 365 00:23:04,396 --> 00:23:08,716 Speaker 1: up to people who are overwhelmed and been turned away 366 00:23:08,716 --> 00:23:11,956 Speaker 1: from programs because they're not eligible, and it's left on 367 00:23:11,996 --> 00:23:15,436 Speaker 1: these overwhelmed people somehow to navigate the system. Once that flips, 368 00:23:16,196 --> 00:23:21,116 Speaker 1: you begin to realize that it's many different problems and 369 00:23:21,756 --> 00:23:24,916 Speaker 1: many different resources can come into play to solve them, 370 00:23:24,956 --> 00:23:27,156 Speaker 1: and that in no one community is the number so 371 00:23:27,236 --> 00:23:30,956 Speaker 1: overwhelming that once you see the problem clearly, are you 372 00:23:31,036 --> 00:23:34,876 Speaker 1: unable to solve it. Give me a good, really specific 373 00:23:35,436 --> 00:23:39,756 Speaker 1: thing you might learn from creating this movie of your 374 00:23:39,796 --> 00:23:44,716 Speaker 1: homelessness problem, and how that might inform my job as mayor. 375 00:23:46,956 --> 00:23:50,116 Speaker 1: Let me lift up a community like Bergen County, New Jersey, 376 00:23:50,436 --> 00:23:56,756 Speaker 1: or Rockford, Illinois, or like Montgomery County, Maryland, or Gulf 377 00:23:56,796 --> 00:24:01,396 Speaker 1: Coast Mississippi, places that have all ended chronic or veteran 378 00:24:01,436 --> 00:24:04,716 Speaker 1: homelessness or not, and I think the mayor of those 379 00:24:04,756 --> 00:24:08,876 Speaker 1: communities would see, after significant numbers of their municipal work, 380 00:24:09,556 --> 00:24:12,756 Speaker 1: people working in homelessness have learned how to work as 381 00:24:12,876 --> 00:24:16,676 Speaker 1: a team, have grasped the fact that this is a 382 00:24:16,756 --> 00:24:19,356 Speaker 1: population level problem that we have to be all in on, 383 00:24:19,796 --> 00:24:23,596 Speaker 1: and have learned frankly twenty first century problem solving skills 384 00:24:23,676 --> 00:24:26,756 Speaker 1: like using data for problem solving, not for judgment, and 385 00:24:27,276 --> 00:24:34,516 Speaker 1: quality improvement. That mayor will see that there is this enlivened, 386 00:24:34,796 --> 00:24:40,276 Speaker 1: empowered municipal workforce that is able to problem solve not 387 00:24:40,316 --> 00:24:43,716 Speaker 1: just homelessness, but the problems that contribute to homelessness. Because 388 00:24:44,036 --> 00:24:47,396 Speaker 1: it's all of this same thing of fragmentation. They're going 389 00:24:47,436 --> 00:24:51,516 Speaker 1: to see that they're spending money in ways that makes 390 00:24:51,556 --> 00:24:56,316 Speaker 1: sense for the whole community. They're not randomly developing housing 391 00:24:56,356 --> 00:24:59,236 Speaker 1: policies or homeless policies and throwing money against the wall 392 00:24:59,236 --> 00:25:03,196 Speaker 1: and hoping something actually works out. That they are embracing 393 00:25:03,396 --> 00:25:08,156 Speaker 1: with members of their community, this spirit of accountability for 394 00:25:08,556 --> 00:25:12,676 Speaker 1: taking off hard problems that can't be solved with a 395 00:25:12,716 --> 00:25:16,396 Speaker 1: single program or you know, an app, but require people 396 00:25:16,676 --> 00:25:20,716 Speaker 1: to really think and work differently in teams, using real 397 00:25:20,756 --> 00:25:25,076 Speaker 1: information to drive their understanding of problems as opposed to 398 00:25:25,276 --> 00:25:30,756 Speaker 1: ideological views. That those are communities that are actually positioned 399 00:25:30,796 --> 00:25:34,916 Speaker 1: to thrive in many ways, and that homelessness we've come 400 00:25:34,916 --> 00:25:37,956 Speaker 1: to see after so many years, you know, and personally 401 00:25:37,956 --> 00:25:41,636 Speaker 1: working on this issue, it is really the symptom. It's 402 00:25:41,676 --> 00:25:45,316 Speaker 1: not the problem, it's the symptom of this fragmentation, the 403 00:25:45,396 --> 00:25:48,756 Speaker 1: breakdown that is so overwhelming to so many communities on 404 00:25:48,796 --> 00:25:54,116 Speaker 1: so many fronts. Organizing people around taking on and really 405 00:25:54,156 --> 00:26:00,996 Speaker 1: committing to ending this most visible form of poverty is 406 00:26:00,996 --> 00:26:03,156 Speaker 1: a way you can actually make your city work better. 407 00:26:03,436 --> 00:26:06,476 Speaker 1: It's a lovely phrase the Jesuits used called descending into 408 00:26:06,516 --> 00:26:10,396 Speaker 1: the particular. Descend into the particular on two of these 409 00:26:10,396 --> 00:26:13,556 Speaker 1: cities and tell me how their homeless problems are different, 410 00:26:14,436 --> 00:26:17,196 Speaker 1: because presumably what you learn is that every city's homeless 411 00:26:17,196 --> 00:26:19,876 Speaker 1: problem is different. Well, I'll pick a blue and a 412 00:26:19,916 --> 00:26:23,956 Speaker 1: red community has that, because that's unfortunately, you know, the 413 00:26:24,036 --> 00:26:27,076 Speaker 1: way we sometimes think we're divided. In fact, I think 414 00:26:27,116 --> 00:26:28,956 Speaker 1: everywhere people are just hungry to learn how to solve 415 00:26:28,996 --> 00:26:31,836 Speaker 1: problems in their communities. So let's start with Bergen County, 416 00:26:31,956 --> 00:26:35,116 Speaker 1: just outside New York City, across the George Washington Bridge, 417 00:26:35,196 --> 00:26:37,876 Speaker 1: really more or less the same high cost housing market, 418 00:26:38,356 --> 00:26:44,116 Speaker 1: so largely urban and suburban county. Their homelessness issues were 419 00:26:44,276 --> 00:26:48,356 Speaker 1: certainly more pronounced in the poor urban centers there they 420 00:26:48,396 --> 00:26:52,036 Speaker 1: have with the full on support of the county executive. 421 00:26:52,316 --> 00:26:54,916 Speaker 1: Just one of the great leaders in the field, a 422 00:26:54,956 --> 00:26:59,436 Speaker 1: woman named Julia Orlando, who interestingly was trained in an 423 00:26:59,436 --> 00:27:03,756 Speaker 1: emergency management before she went into this field. And so 424 00:27:03,796 --> 00:27:08,156 Speaker 1: they aggregated in one place. All of the players quickly 425 00:27:08,236 --> 00:27:11,396 Speaker 1: realized that day was the key to this knowing who 426 00:27:11,596 --> 00:27:15,356 Speaker 1: actually was homeless, rather than developing policy based on kind 427 00:27:15,356 --> 00:27:20,516 Speaker 1: of theories and bad estimates. They were the first community 428 00:27:20,836 --> 00:27:26,396 Speaker 1: to end chronic homelessness. They have now also ended veteran homelessness. 429 00:27:26,436 --> 00:27:28,676 Speaker 1: One of the things that Julia and her team do, 430 00:27:28,836 --> 00:27:32,876 Speaker 1: I mean, they are like, why is anyone even now homeless? 431 00:27:32,916 --> 00:27:35,956 Speaker 1: Six months in the county. They have just changed what's normative. 432 00:27:36,396 --> 00:27:38,476 Speaker 1: But one of the things that they do, which I 433 00:27:38,516 --> 00:27:41,436 Speaker 1: think is so powerful, is they have a public meeting 434 00:27:41,476 --> 00:27:45,676 Speaker 1: I believe it's every month somewhere in the county where 435 00:27:45,716 --> 00:27:48,796 Speaker 1: they go over their progress, what they've learned about homelessness, 436 00:27:48,796 --> 00:27:51,996 Speaker 1: who the remaining challenges are. They've kind of made it 437 00:27:52,036 --> 00:27:55,876 Speaker 1: a community project, so it's not simply like the people 438 00:27:55,916 --> 00:27:59,516 Speaker 1: who are working formally in the sector. This is I 439 00:27:59,556 --> 00:28:02,396 Speaker 1: think also a case of a community figuring out a 440 00:28:02,396 --> 00:28:05,876 Speaker 1: way to move its resources around very unnimbly. Once they 441 00:28:05,956 --> 00:28:10,396 Speaker 1: realized the problem was somewhat different than they originally believed. 442 00:28:10,556 --> 00:28:13,356 Speaker 1: Putting more money was the problem different than they believe. 443 00:28:13,556 --> 00:28:16,076 Speaker 1: I think they believed that there was sort of an 444 00:28:16,156 --> 00:28:18,956 Speaker 1: endless flow, and then they realized, actually, it's a more 445 00:28:18,996 --> 00:28:22,956 Speaker 1: containable problem and that they saw. Having that highly specific 446 00:28:23,036 --> 00:28:26,836 Speaker 1: data allowed them to start seeing problems emerging, for instance, 447 00:28:26,876 --> 00:28:30,836 Speaker 1: older adults who are becoming homeless and coming into seek services, 448 00:28:31,196 --> 00:28:34,236 Speaker 1: so they're able to adjust how they were targeting their 449 00:28:34,276 --> 00:28:38,596 Speaker 1: resources to put more resources into older services in the 450 00:28:38,636 --> 00:28:42,556 Speaker 1: community and to create specific services there. But that's one 451 00:28:42,596 --> 00:28:45,436 Speaker 1: example of kind of having this line of sight into 452 00:28:45,516 --> 00:28:47,916 Speaker 1: something that's emerging and that you need to get ahead of, 453 00:28:48,316 --> 00:28:50,956 Speaker 1: very much a public health kind of view of a problem. 454 00:28:51,636 --> 00:28:55,396 Speaker 1: Now in Bergen County, Wild Julia has done this I 455 00:28:55,436 --> 00:29:00,716 Speaker 1: think masterful job of just making landlords and active citizens 456 00:29:00,836 --> 00:29:05,836 Speaker 1: and libraries and local police departments aware of what's happening 457 00:29:05,836 --> 00:29:09,716 Speaker 1: and roles that they can play and really consolidate kind 458 00:29:09,716 --> 00:29:12,916 Speaker 1: of the work habits of the organizations, both the government 459 00:29:13,116 --> 00:29:16,636 Speaker 1: organizations and the not for profits who receive resources. In 460 00:29:16,996 --> 00:29:20,396 Speaker 1: Gulf Coast is like a ninety mile area along the 461 00:29:20,396 --> 00:29:24,276 Speaker 1: Gulf Coast of Mississippi, like Biloxi and Past Christian and 462 00:29:24,716 --> 00:29:28,196 Speaker 1: you know, the smaller like largely rural and wooded areas 463 00:29:28,356 --> 00:29:32,076 Speaker 1: with these dots of small cities up to like eighty thousand. 464 00:29:32,316 --> 00:29:35,756 Speaker 1: I think it's it's the largest city they have in 465 00:29:35,836 --> 00:29:40,476 Speaker 1: an area with almost no state resources going into housing 466 00:29:40,596 --> 00:29:46,636 Speaker 1: or human services. They have mobilized veterans organizations, their faith community. 467 00:29:47,236 --> 00:29:50,076 Speaker 1: They've created outreach teams out of these church groups with 468 00:29:50,196 --> 00:29:53,556 Speaker 1: vans and like knowing everyone by name. They were one 469 00:29:53,556 --> 00:29:56,236 Speaker 1: of the first communities to end veteran homelessness because they 470 00:29:56,276 --> 00:30:01,236 Speaker 1: were able to mobilize the very long tradition of military 471 00:30:01,276 --> 00:30:04,116 Speaker 1: service and patriotism in the region and say like, this 472 00:30:04,196 --> 00:30:06,436 Speaker 1: is about us, It's not about these individuals are homeless. 473 00:30:06,636 --> 00:30:08,916 Speaker 1: What kind of a community are we and really tap 474 00:30:08,956 --> 00:30:12,596 Speaker 1: in too there with their small businesses and people participating 475 00:30:12,636 --> 00:30:15,676 Speaker 1: in like Landlord stepping up the sense of we needed 476 00:30:15,716 --> 00:30:17,916 Speaker 1: each other and we needed help from everyone else. After 477 00:30:18,396 --> 00:30:21,836 Speaker 1: Rita and Krina wiped out many of those cities, and 478 00:30:21,876 --> 00:30:25,876 Speaker 1: so in this area where there is very little in 479 00:30:25,916 --> 00:30:29,836 Speaker 1: the way of kind of a formal government supported safety net, 480 00:30:30,116 --> 00:30:33,836 Speaker 1: very different geography, and kind of a different mindset about 481 00:30:34,156 --> 00:30:36,996 Speaker 1: in terms of their outcomes and the way they have 482 00:30:37,116 --> 00:30:42,596 Speaker 1: resourcefully deployed local assets. Very similar to Bergen County, yet 483 00:30:42,596 --> 00:30:46,436 Speaker 1: in a very different area. Brought to bear once you 484 00:30:46,516 --> 00:30:49,716 Speaker 1: descend into the particular, it allows you to craft strategies 485 00:30:49,716 --> 00:30:52,956 Speaker 1: that are appropriate for your community. Correct, and that it's 486 00:30:52,996 --> 00:30:56,596 Speaker 1: an ongoing thing. It's not like you get there once 487 00:30:56,676 --> 00:30:59,396 Speaker 1: and high five it. Having systems in place and having 488 00:30:59,436 --> 00:31:03,476 Speaker 1: relationships in place, and having the tools in place that 489 00:31:03,556 --> 00:31:07,876 Speaker 1: allow communities to solve this problem, keep it solved, and 490 00:31:07,916 --> 00:31:11,476 Speaker 1: begin moving more and more upstream to like where are 491 00:31:11,516 --> 00:31:14,876 Speaker 1: the fault lines that create vulnerability for people that put 492 00:31:14,876 --> 00:31:18,476 Speaker 1: them in a situation where they would lose their home? Well, 493 00:31:18,556 --> 00:31:23,516 Speaker 1: thank you so much. This has been wonderful. This solvable 494 00:31:23,676 --> 00:31:27,036 Speaker 1: was so thought provoking for me, like about how and 495 00:31:27,076 --> 00:31:30,036 Speaker 1: where people get their statistics from, and then how and 496 00:31:30,036 --> 00:31:34,036 Speaker 1: where they use that information. It seems like Rosanne's years 497 00:31:34,076 --> 00:31:37,436 Speaker 1: spent working with people who are homeless and then building 498 00:31:37,516 --> 00:31:42,796 Speaker 1: up community relationships gave her some really priceless insights. In fact, 499 00:31:42,876 --> 00:31:45,756 Speaker 1: we asked Rosanne for a few suggestions about what we 500 00:31:45,836 --> 00:31:48,516 Speaker 1: can do to make this problem a little more solvable. 501 00:31:48,796 --> 00:31:51,076 Speaker 1: We'll do this with many of our guests, so here 502 00:31:51,076 --> 00:31:56,076 Speaker 1: are her recommendations. First, create a new expectation in your community. 503 00:31:56,636 --> 00:31:59,796 Speaker 1: You can visit our built for zero dot org website 504 00:31:59,876 --> 00:32:02,156 Speaker 1: to see whether your community is part of the built 505 00:32:02,196 --> 00:32:04,796 Speaker 1: for zero movement in the United States and if not, 506 00:32:05,156 --> 00:32:09,436 Speaker 1: why not. Second, you could support telling a new story 507 00:32:09,476 --> 00:32:12,396 Speaker 1: in your community, that it challenge this idea that this 508 00:32:12,436 --> 00:32:16,916 Speaker 1: isn't a solvable problem. That perception and that mindset disconnect 509 00:32:17,036 --> 00:32:20,476 Speaker 1: is really one of the great barriers. Now, then the 510 00:32:20,556 --> 00:32:26,556 Speaker 1: idea of once your community has its number, just demand 511 00:32:26,836 --> 00:32:29,756 Speaker 1: that that number be going in the right direction, or 512 00:32:29,796 --> 00:32:34,516 Speaker 1: that your community, your leadership, and those working on homelessness 513 00:32:34,556 --> 00:32:38,436 Speaker 1: are accounting for why they're not making progress and what 514 00:32:38,516 --> 00:32:42,476 Speaker 1: other steps are needed that citizens can support. But it's 515 00:32:42,476 --> 00:32:47,876 Speaker 1: this community level accountability and expectation of progress that is 516 00:32:47,916 --> 00:32:51,756 Speaker 1: the most important thing that individuals can contribute to that 517 00:32:51,916 --> 00:32:56,156 Speaker 1: new cultural norm. And as Rosan says, it's about changing 518 00:32:56,196 --> 00:33:00,116 Speaker 1: our mindsets. You know, it's not a hopeless situation and 519 00:33:00,236 --> 00:33:02,836 Speaker 1: we need to believe that in order to make it work. 520 00:33:03,636 --> 00:33:07,476 Speaker 1: And remember, get involved and ask questions of your representatives. 521 00:33:07,956 --> 00:33:10,556 Speaker 1: Speaking of which I loved how Malcolm role played. Being 522 00:33:10,676 --> 00:33:18,476 Speaker 1: Married into Solvable is a collaboration between Pushkin Industries and 523 00:33:18,516 --> 00:33:22,876 Speaker 1: the Rockefeller Foundation, with production by Chalk and Blade. Pushkin's 524 00:33:22,916 --> 00:33:27,036 Speaker 1: executive producer is Mia LaBelle, Engineering by Jason Gambrell and 525 00:33:27,116 --> 00:33:32,316 Speaker 1: the Great Folks at GSI Studios. Original music composed by 526 00:33:32,316 --> 00:33:36,876 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise. Special thanks to Maggie Taylor, Heather Faine, Julia Barton, 527 00:33:37,236 --> 00:33:42,756 Speaker 1: Carlie Mgliori, Jacob Weisberg, and Malcolm Gladwell. You can learn 528 00:33:42,796 --> 00:33:47,196 Speaker 1: more about solving today's biggest problems at Rockefeller Foundation dot org, 529 00:33:47,396 --> 00:34:11,036 Speaker 1: slash solvable. I'm Mave Higgins. Now go solve it. T