There is more than one kind of homeless. The mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti recently said something striking, "homelessness is trauma meets high rent"[1]. O

There is more than one kind of homeless. The mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti recently said something striking, "homelessness is trauma meets high rent"[1]. Often times, decades ago, there was housing on the margins of society - yes, it wasn't very nice, but it was a warm dry place in winter. Often people who are homeless had jobs right up until the time they became homeless, and have marketable skills, but not ones that can pay for a median rent price, Basically the lack affordable housing puts stress on people who are already on the margins or in near crisis and puts them out of the street. Most of the homeless people fit into this category. There is another group of homeless folks though, who are long term chronic homeless, they have other complicating factors, like drug abuse, mental health issues, criminal records that make it hard to rent a home or find a job - often being in the first category of homelessness can lead you to slip into the second category, by simply the on the street. The first group of homelessness would be largely solved with affordable housing and a program to get people into it, Unfortunately for those of us who want to solve the problem the most visible homeless are the chronic variety not the people suffering from a life event. [1] - https://www.marketplace.org/2019/12/23/interview-la-mayor-eric-garcetti/ https://www.marketplace.org/2019/12/23/interview-la-mayor-er...