Moving the homeless out of shelters, into homes

New York - Two weeks ago, Moises and Jennifer Cedano expected to spend the next four to six months in a homeless shelter while they saved enough money for a deposit to rent an apartment.

Today they watch two of their three children, Timothy and Francisco, jump with joy on a new bed in a new apartment.

They rented the place with help from the city's Department of Homeless Services, which decided that in the long run, it will be less expensive to help the family get stabilized in their own apartment than to have them cycle into the shelter system.

The Cedanos' experience is a reflection of a fundamental transformation in thinking about homelessness and the new model's success in combating what was once thought to be an intractable social problem.

much more...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0820/p01s04-usgn.html

into a stable home so they can focus on other things besides wondering if the shelter will be there for them tomorrow.

And very nice to see a branch of government (at least, government THESE DAYS) giving a flying fig about those down on their luck, and actually DOING SOMETHING to give people a hand up when they need it.