Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home

Changing the story of homelessness through storytelling, education, journalism, and advocacy ➤ ➤

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

We publish daily news on homelessness https://t.co/zZxTAsapO7 also on Apple News and Google News

We produce social impact documentaries https://t.co/DHrvIgmG0K
We produce scripted social impact films https://t.co/0UrLPmIImL
We produce social impact animations https://t.co/7Ot40oTP2t

Homeless Unfiltered Podcast:

YouTube Podcast https://t.co/56n0L8sMzY
Apple Podcast https://t.co/a44chjzhmO
Spotify https://t.co/VHXbMG7XK8

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Messaging research:
Messaging Toolkit https://t.co/Nus9TcGuNu
What America Believes about Homelessness https://t.co/ippsOYWDro
Barriers to Progress https://t.co/tlYCC98Dj7

Follow us on:
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If you own a VR headset or can access one, here is the VR film we did in partnership with Meta. Everyone in the movie except the actors that played police are currently homeless or formerly homeless https://t.co/6DBUoVnRiq

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Cynthia says she never planned on being homeless. No one does. Cynthia ended up homeless and started sleeping on the sidewalk, in abandoned cars, behind buildings, at bus stops, or anyplace she should find. https://t.co/L8E7KmCoEM

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery I hear you. And I agree with you on one important point: there isn't a single solution.

Where I think we disagree is that you're describing a system that became too focused on one approach, then arguing that we should replace it with another single approach.

Recovery housing has a role. Treatment has a role. Harm reduction has a role. Supportive housing has a role.

The people we serve aren't all the same. Some need recovery housing. Some need supportive housing. Some need both at different points in their lives.

My concern is that we're turning "Housing First" versus "Recovery First" into an ideological fight when the real goal should be matching the right intervention to the right person at the right time.

The answer isn't one solution. It's having enough solutions for the different people we're trying to help.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery what percentage of San Francisco's highest-risk population lives in PSH?

If PSH houses a large share of people with severe addiction, mental illness, chronic health conditions, and long histories of homelessness, then simply pointing to the percentage of overdose deaths occurring in PSH doesn't tell us whether PSH is helping or hurting.

By that logic, hospitals would be causing deaths because more people die in hospitals than grocery stores.

I support treatment and recovery. But recovery often takes multiple attempts, and relapse is common.

What happens after treatment?

If someone completes treatment but doesn't have housing, where do they go?

Many people are discharged right back into homelessness.

Are you arguing that someone has a better chance of long-term recovery if they're discharged back into homelessness after treatment?

Treatment, housing, and supportive services work together. The solution isn't one or the other. It's all of them.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery Recovery is important. Nobody is arguing against recovery.

What I never hear from you is: where are people supposed to go after treatment if they don't have housing?

A national study found that nearly 69% of people who entered substance use treatment while homeless were still homeless when discharged. Only 15% exited to independent housing. That's not a housing problem or a recovery problem. It's both. https://t.co/jajcXcWTbV

Too often people complete treatment and are discharged right back into homelessness, where relapse risk skyrockets and the cycle starts all over again.

HUD's own evidence base has consistently found that permanent supportive housing produces the strongest housing stability outcomes for people with the most complex challenges, including substance use disorders and mental illness.

Housing First was never about replacing treatment. It's about making treatment, recovery, and long-term stability possible.

Treatment without housing often leads back to homelessness. Housing without services is often insufficient. That's why we need treatment + recovery support + harm reduction + housing + supportive services working together.

Sending people back to homelessness after treatment is not a solution.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

But @Twolfrecovery, that's not the truth. The evidence is clear: supportive housing produces the best outcomes for people with complex challenges, including substance use disorders. Housing isn't the opposite of treatment. Stable housing makes treatment, recovery, employment, and long-term stability more likely.

You keep promoting a treatment-first or recovery-first approach, but where do people go after treatment if they don't have housing? Too often, they are discharged right back into homelessness, where relapse risk increases and the cycle starts again.

You also support arresting people who refuse treatment. Yet forced treatment has consistently shown poor long-term outcomes, and incarceration doesn't solve homelessness. When people leave jail, they're often still homeless, but now face additional barriers to employment and housing because of a criminal record.

This isn't an either-or choice. We need housing, treatment, harm reduction, and supportive services working together. Removing any one of those pieces makes success far less likely.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Nearly half of North Carolina renters are rent-burdened. The state is short 215,000 affordable homes. Meanwhile, one of its biggest banks is systematically blocking Black and Latino families from buying.
https://t.co/vp03Nz2qr2

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Olga has a part-time job cleaning offices in Northridge, which is an hour or more bus ride each way from where her tent is. Imagine getting off work and your only choice is to come home to a tent in downtown Los Angeles. https://t.co/J3xspo6gH6

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery I hear you. And I agree with you on one important point: there isn't a single solution.

Where I think we disagree is that you're describing a system that became too focused on one approach, then arguing that we should replace it with another single approach.

Recovery housing has a role. Treatment has a role. Harm reduction has a role. Supportive housing has a role.

The people we serve aren't all the same. Some need recovery housing. Some need supportive housing. Some need both at different points in their lives.

My concern is that we're turning "Housing First" versus "Recovery First" into an ideological fight when the real goal should be matching the right intervention to the right person at the right time.

The answer isn't one solution. It's having enough solutions for the different people we're trying to help.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

But @Twolfrecovery, that's not the truth. The evidence is clear: supportive housing produces the best outcomes for people with complex challenges, including substance use disorders. Housing isn't the opposite of treatment. Stable housing makes treatment, recovery, employment, and long-term stability more likely.

You keep promoting a treatment-first or recovery-first approach, but where do people go after treatment if they don't have housing? Too often, they are discharged right back into homelessness, where relapse risk increases and the cycle starts again.

You also support arresting people who refuse treatment. Yet forced treatment has consistently shown poor long-term outcomes, and incarceration doesn't solve homelessness. When people leave jail, they're often still homeless, but now face additional barriers to employment and housing because of a criminal record.

This isn't an either-or choice. We need housing, treatment, harm reduction, and supportive services working together. Removing any one of those pieces makes success far less likely.

[T Wolf 🌁 @Twolfrecovery]

Just finished the @InstituteCicero conference on homelessness. It was complete with protests and everything. Here's the truth. Housing First doesn't work for people with addictions and must be changed. I told you I was going to help make that happen.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery the goal of supportive housing has always been stability and greater independence whenever possible.

Many people do move on to more independent housing. Some find employment and regain self-sufficiency.

But let's be honest: some people, because of age, disability, severe mental illness, addiction, traumatic brain injury, or chronic health conditions, may never be able to work. Others may technically be able to work but are effectively unhirable because of the barriers they face.

The question isn't whether everyone in supportive housing can work tomorrow. The question is what helps people stabilize enough to recover, improve their health, find employment if they can, and live as independently as possible.

For many of the most vulnerable people, supportive housing is what makes that possible.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery what percentage of San Francisco's highest-risk population lives in PSH?

If PSH houses a large share of people with severe addiction, mental illness, chronic health conditions, and long histories of homelessness, then simply pointing to the percentage of overdose deaths occurring in PSH doesn't tell us whether PSH is helping or hurting.

By that logic, hospitals would be causing deaths because more people die in hospitals than grocery stores.

I support treatment and recovery. But recovery often takes multiple attempts, and relapse is common.

What happens after treatment?

If someone completes treatment but doesn't have housing, where do they go?

Many people are discharged right back into homelessness.

Are you arguing that someone has a better chance of long-term recovery if they're discharged back into homelessness after treatment?

Treatment, housing, and supportive services work together. The solution isn't one or the other. It's all of them.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

@Twolfrecovery Recovery is important. Nobody is arguing against recovery.

What I never hear from you is: where are people supposed to go after treatment if they don't have housing?

A national study found that nearly 69% of people who entered substance use treatment while homeless were still homeless when discharged. Only 15% exited to independent housing. That's not a housing problem or a recovery problem. It's both. https://t.co/jajcXcWTbV

Too often people complete treatment and are discharged right back into homelessness, where relapse risk skyrockets and the cycle starts all over again.

HUD's own evidence base has consistently found that permanent supportive housing produces the strongest housing stability outcomes for people with the most complex challenges, including substance use disorders and mental illness.

Housing First was never about replacing treatment. It's about making treatment, recovery, and long-term stability possible.

Treatment without housing often leads back to homelessness. Housing without services is often insufficient. That's why we need treatment + recovery support + harm reduction + housing + supportive services working together.

Sending people back to homelessness after treatment is not a solution.

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

In New York City, a pilot program called Every Child and Family Is Known pairs students in shelters with school staff for daily check-ins and weekly family meetings. https://t.co/zEK4ZlvLxi

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Olivia and her son Alex live in a small hotel room. The area is filled with miles of weekly rate hotels that provide refuge for low-income families. Prostitution, drug use, and violence often occur in the same hotels. https://t.co/o2bffQAEVc

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Communities pushed back on placing a youth homeless shelter next to a school. This is the reality of housing homeless kids in America, and it's costing us an entire generation.
https://t.co/7wa34jMelv

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Proposals to create federal lists of approved absentee voters and restrict ballot delivery would introduce new barriers for people already facing housing instability, limited transportation, and demanding work or caregiving schedules. https://t.co/SXmTZolE0e

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

Panda is disabled. He cannot work. As a single dad, he raised two children. After they grew up and moved out, Panda no longer qualified for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher and ended up on the streets. https://t.co/PfvMEftYKR

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

We wouldn’t leave a dog in a hot car. Shouldn’t we do as much for our homeless neighbors?

Today in Invisible People’s Homelessness News: Hosted by Blake Alexander. For more, visit: https://t.co/0acYI562Y8 or sign up for our bi-weekly email: https://t.co/1G4jO7Vlh5

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

More than 2,200 students in Denver schools were identified as homeless last year. As youth homelessness rises nationwide, a Denver nonprofit is expanding housing and recovery services for younger adults trying to survive addiction and instability.
https://t.co/4P6uf6b0Ih

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

A 17-year-old can't sign a lease. Can't rent a motel room. Can't qualify for most housing programs. So where do they go? For 4.2 million young people right now, that answer is nowhere safe.
https://t.co/7wa34jMelv