Will Stone

As a reporter covering homelessness here in Seattle, I started hearing doubts about Housing First from people I didn't expect to hear them from, folks who work directly with the homeless population at nonprofits that practice Housing First. sometimes even from people who lived on the streets themselves and moved inside under Housing First.

And this really threw me because as a reporter, I'd been hearing for years that Housing First is the most studied, the most proven, the most cost-effective strategy for getting people off the streets. And at the same time, some of the evidence that these critics were pointing to rang true to me. Like they were pointing to problems that I have witnessed myself in my reporting.

And this really threw me because as a reporter, I'd been hearing for years that Housing First is the most studied, the most proven, the most cost-effective strategy for getting people off the streets. And at the same time, some of the evidence that these critics were pointing to rang true to me. Like they were pointing to problems that I have witnessed myself in my reporting.

And this really threw me because as a reporter, I'd been hearing for years that Housing First is the most studied, the most proven, the most cost-effective strategy for getting people off the streets. And at the same time, some of the evidence that these critics were pointing to rang true to me. Like they were pointing to problems that I have witnessed myself in my reporting.

And this is what really made me want to dive into Housing First with this documentary. It was my own genuine confusion about how to reconcile these things.

And this is what really made me want to dive into Housing First with this documentary. It was my own genuine confusion about how to reconcile these things.

And this is what really made me want to dive into Housing First with this documentary. It was my own genuine confusion about how to reconcile these things.

So the first observation that critics of Housing First tend to make is since 2013, the U.S. government has really pushed local governments and nonprofits to adopt Housing First practices. And for years, a majority of federal grants for homelessness have gone to Housing First projects, adding up to billions of dollars. But the U.S. homeless population hit a new record in 2024.

So the first observation that critics of Housing First tend to make is since 2013, the U.S. government has really pushed local governments and nonprofits to adopt Housing First practices. And for years, a majority of federal grants for homelessness have gone to Housing First projects, adding up to billions of dollars. But the U.S. homeless population hit a new record in 2024.

So the first observation that critics of Housing First tend to make is since 2013, the U.S. government has really pushed local governments and nonprofits to adopt Housing First practices. And for years, a majority of federal grants for homelessness have gone to Housing First projects, adding up to billions of dollars. But the U.S. homeless population hit a new record in 2024.

And so this has caused some people to wonder whether Housing First, or maybe the way we're practicing Housing First, is not meeting this moment. The second observation that critics make is that Housing First in practice can look very imperfect, to put it mildly. Yes, it offers people an apartment, a bed, a door that locks behind them.

And so this has caused some people to wonder whether Housing First, or maybe the way we're practicing Housing First, is not meeting this moment. The second observation that critics make is that Housing First in practice can look very imperfect, to put it mildly. Yes, it offers people an apartment, a bed, a door that locks behind them.

And so this has caused some people to wonder whether Housing First, or maybe the way we're practicing Housing First, is not meeting this moment. The second observation that critics make is that Housing First in practice can look very imperfect, to put it mildly. Yes, it offers people an apartment, a bed, a door that locks behind them.

But the environment in these buildings can be challenging because the chaos of the streets tends to follow people indoors.

But the environment in these buildings can be challenging because the chaos of the streets tends to follow people indoors.

But the environment in these buildings can be challenging because the chaos of the streets tends to follow people indoors.

Yeah. So we're going to hear from a woman named Maureen Hawley who lives in a building in downtown Seattle. It's this 14-story building that's a century old. And some of the tenants there are just low income, but others come straight off the streets under a Housing First program. There is staff on site to help them with addiction and mental health if the tenants want that.

Yeah. So we're going to hear from a woman named Maureen Hawley who lives in a building in downtown Seattle. It's this 14-story building that's a century old. And some of the tenants there are just low income, but others come straight off the streets under a Housing First program. There is staff on site to help them with addiction and mental health if the tenants want that.

Yeah. So we're going to hear from a woman named Maureen Hawley who lives in a building in downtown Seattle. It's this 14-story building that's a century old. And some of the tenants there are just low income, but others come straight off the streets under a Housing First program. There is staff on site to help them with addiction and mental health if the tenants want that.

But like with every Housing First project, treatment is not a requirement of living here. Maureen's lived here for more than two decades after spending some time homeless herself. Two years ago, Maureen had an encounter with a neighbor that she says almost killed her. Here's Maureen from the documentary.