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Emergency Housing is not in style, but I believe it is helpful

Several years ago emergency housing shelters became unfashionable in favor of long term housing.  This makes sense; each time a homeless person is permanently housed, then there is one fewer homeless person on the streets.  But since the process of finding permanent housing for the homeless is a long, expensive, complicated one, and often involves matching patients with case managers, finding landlords willing to take homeless renters, and finding open units in a very tight rental market, this process is not likely to make a significant dent in the number of people living outdoors for some time. Moreover, new homeless people are appearing – released from prison, aged out of foster care, losing jobs or being kicked out of homes related to substance use disorders.

I frequently meet patients asking me to help them get into a shelter.  I very often have to tell them that there are no openings, that it could be a few weeks before they can get in somewhere.  Often, when homeless individuals stay in a shelter for a while, they are able to build trust with staff, social workers, and healthcare professionals.  Some benefit from a quieting of the chaos of homelessness enough to eat, sleep, and take medications more regularly; I have often seen substance use disorders and mental illnesses stabilize during these times.  It can be a time when they can become prepared for the complex psychosocial adjustment of moving into housing after being outside for years.

Angela Bymaster
Angela Bymaster

Angela Bymaster is a family medicine physician who has worked primarily with homeless patients in San Jose for the past 5 years. Dr. Bymaster graduated with an M.D. from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at O'Connor Hospital in San Jose, CA. Dr. Bymaster has an additional board certification in Addiction Medicine.

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