Places to Live

People living on the street have come to symbolize the global housing crisis but they are only the tip of the iceberg. While the examples of Finland and Houston demonstrate a focussed plan pursued diligently can resolve the housing situation for the chronically homeless, addressing the affordable housing problem is much more complex.  Defining Affordability […]

A Tale of Two Cities This is a Tale of Two Cities. Houston, Texas is the fourth largest city in the United States. It has a population of about 2.4 million people and Harris County about has about 4.3 million residents. Over the past ten years Houston / Harris has reduced chronic homelessness by 63%. […]

So how did Finland accomplish these results? As already set out in an earlier instalment, Article 19.4 of the Finnish Constitution establishes housing as a basic human right in.  Finland bases its resultant strategy on four guiding principles to eliminate homelessness: 1 – Housing enables independent Lives The homeless can go straight to living in […]

Think First of the Homeless When I think about places to live, I think first of the homeless. Imagine  standing on a street corner at eight o’clock in the evening with all of your earthly belongings. It is drizzling and cold. You have no where to shelter, call your own, sleep, or feel safe. Maybe […]