Housing First

Housing First has been recognized as a promising practice by national researchers and policymakers. As a result, communities in many parts of the world are piloting projects that employ Housing First principles.  The National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) defines the Housing First approach for addressing the chronic homelessness of disabled and vulnerable people as “a client-driven strategy that provides immediate access to an apartment without requiring initial participation in psychiatric treatment or treatment for sobriety.”

Housing First is based on two core convictions:

1. Housing is a basic human right, not a reward for clinical success, and
2. Once the chaos of homelessness is eliminated from a person’s life, clinical and social stabilization occur faster and are more enduring.

Click here to see the impact Housing First is having on the Upstate