Current status
Of a needy population of 450 approximately, 120 were housed in the last 12 months.
Leaving 330.
Current Outlook: Functional Zero Functional hundreds, increasing, exploding prison industry.
Sadly, this is absolutely not a trend. 120 were housed with wonderful, but one time, relatively massive projects. There is little or no reason currently to think that the population will noticeably decrease, and probably will increase in the coming years unless things dramatically change for the better.
And currently there is no known effort to make this so.
Unless there emerges a passion and commitment within the community for functional zero we can be certain that the situation will deteriorate rapidly.
Tho prevailing political forces may arrive in Cortez later than some other places, we can be certain that before long the homeless population that remains unhoused and unemployed will at best populate concentration camps jails and prisons.
Barriers to Functional Zero
No Community committed involvement of remotely adequate scale.
Also (input most welcome here):
- Expanding poverty in the Cortez region
- Negative economic and jobs growth
- Aging population
- Negative attitudes toward those without homes
- Lack of strong trust and collaboration between agencies, city, churches.
- Hostile political climate for those working to better the lives of those without homes.
- Willful ignorance within the community of the causes and solutions for homelessness.
- Well intended programs that are actually enabling joblessness and substance abuse.
- Blaming the victims.
- Fear among those employed that provide services to the homeless that funding for their jobs are at risk. Curiously, the best protection for their jobs could be a dramatic increase in fierceness and effectiveness toward achieving functional zero.
- Disengagement, Beyond feeding, on the part of the churches and the general community.
How the Outlook could improve:
Confronting the question, is it really okay with us to just let these folks rot in place?
Churches to take the lead.
Community members to dramatically increase advocacy for constructive action.
Objective analysis that would show that housing first is economically advantageous for the Cortez community.
Increased engagement of the surrounding tribes to constructively confront the issues in Cortez and on the reservations that are currently contributing to homelessness, substance abuse, and unemployment.
Embrace and application of best practices:
- Functional Zero
- Housing First
- Denver guaranteed basic income project
- Many others, faith and non-faith based
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