Self Improvement
Stop Thinking More Affordable Housing Will Solve Homelessness
Look For Innovative Solutions Instead
Our hearts break for so many suffering from homelessness.
In efforts to solve the issue of homelessness, billions of dollars have been invested in things that don’t work. They may work for a few individuals, but it never seems to make a dent in the larger problem.
There have been recent news reports celebrating new affordable housing being approved across the country. Here’s the kicker. Every single project I have read about has a per-unit cost of over 400K per unit. That is before any social services or anything else. This is simply the cost to build.
At 400K per unit, there is no conceivable way to build ourselves out of homelessness. It will never happen. In most areas of the country, you can buy an average house for less than that.
Yet recently I read an article about a project that was approved in middle America at that per-unit cost. In Los Angeles and other high rent areas, I have read of projects costing as much as 800K and more per unit.
This is ludicrous.
It is time to STOP the insanity.
How as a society can we justify continuing to do something that is clearly not working and never will work?
So What Can We Do Instead?
There are some individuals and organizations looking for alternatives. Tiny house communities. High-rise structures built from shipping containers and more.
We need more people looking at more creative ideas. I came across this video that inspired me.
Think about a community of lovely domed homes in a variety of sizes. Perhaps single domes for single individuals. Multi-dome structures for families and for space for social services and perhaps a convenience market, all in a park-like setting.
With clever land use, it could be fairly dense in the number of units, but with meandering paths and green space, it would provide for an attractive and nurturing community space despite the proximity of the units.
Architecturally it would not work in the downtown core, but what if we were to be open-minded where it would work?
Will this solve the problem of homelessness? Absolutely not. Could it be one component contributing to a long-term solution? Possibly.
Here is the thing. Whether we are seeking to solve societal problems that seem to be intractable or personal problems that seem to be intractable, the best solutions happen when we take the blinders off and look for innovative solutions.
Celebrate this man as he “runs” using an innovative “wheelchair bicycle”.
He has lost the ability to run using his legs, but by embracing a different way of running he can run on the track.
Someone looked beyond conventional wisdom to create this unique method of mobility.
We each seek innovative solutions for society and for ourselves. Nothing is intractable when we open our minds and our hearts to creative solutions and then support one another in pursuing them.
What inspires you to seek innovative solutions to end an intractable problem that weighs heavily on your heart. You have the power to do so. Step up and embrace the opportunity to do so.
BONUS TIP
Innovative solutions come with absolute clarity about who you are and where you are going You are not a product of your history or even your current circumstances. Through the power of choice, you have the power to change that. Create the foundation for those choices as you learn by using THE 7 Pillars of a Happy & Successful Life.