Today across the country our cities are suffering from a growing homeless problem. Attempts to address the problem only seem to proliferate the issue. San Francisco is in the midst of a homeless crisis, throwing $30Million at the problem only to find homelessness increase by 17%.
The problem is not lack of funding, but lack of human understanding. Issues facing people on street only perpetuate their homeless state. These issues are:
- No form of identification
- No bank account
- No acccessible labor market
- Vulnerable to wage theft
- Learned helplessness (dejected from society)
- No civic engagement or social capital
Form the 2019 Point in time survey (https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/mdhi/pages/231/attachments/original/1566335912/Denver_Complete_V2.pdf?1566335912), there are 3943 homeless in the county of Denver alone. 428 are newly homeless while 806 are chronically homeless--people who have been homeless for at least a year or repeatedly while experiencing a disabling condition including physical disability, serious mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
Over half a million people go homeless on a single night in the United States. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/The-State-of-Homelessness-in-America.pdf).
What other solutions are currently being used to afdress this problem? (other companies, workarounds, systems or procersses that can complete with or substitute your product)
Shelters and non-profits that provide services to the homless, however, none are addressing the issues stated above. There are a few homeless-to-work programs in the United States, but their draw back is that they pay their workers in cash and do not adress the non-accessible labor market for long-term work. Locally, we have interviewed The Oxford House, Fort Lyons, El Centro Humanitario, and the Mile High United Way.
What are the geopolitical, cultural-social-economic factors that must be taken into consideration? What are some nuances and complexities that must be addressed?
We are moving government funding away from current infrastructures that are not working to Wolf Pack instead. There could be some backlash from shelters and other non-profits that rely on this funding to support their models. The cultural-social-economic factors that are important to consider are the current feelings and attitudes towards unhomed individuals. Community members see the homeless as unclean vermin and a nuisance and strain on tax dollars. T
he key component to Wolf Pack’s success is bridging the gap between these groups (employers, vendors and the homeless), and building civic engagement between all parties working towards a common goal. The homeless are seen as a risky, potentially volatile and addict population which means getting employers on-board as well as vendors could pose barriers for adoption and acceptance. Also, without out long term options for affordable housing the homeless crisis will remain an unsolvable problem, regardless of Wolf Pack’s success.