What it is
Housing First is an approach to homelessness that starts with a permanent home, with no preconditions like sobriety or treatment, and then offers support. The idea is that it’s very hard to fix anything else in your life while you don’t have a door that locks.
Sam Tsemberis developed the model in New York in the 1990s. Finland made it national policy in 2008 and is the only country in the European Union where homelessness has kept falling.
How it shows up for me
It matches what I believe about dignity: you don’t have to earn the floor. Make the floor solid first, and people can build from there.