Homelessness: Cutting out the middle men. →

jayparkinsonmd:

If a small experiment conducted in London is any indication, a cost effective way to help the homeless may be to simply give them money.

One asked for a new pair of trainers and a television; another for a caravan on a travellers’ site in Suffolk, which was duly bought for him. Of the 13 people who engaged with the scheme, 11 have moved off the streets. The outlay averaged £794 ($1,277) per person (on top of the project’s staff costs). None wanted their money spent on drink, drugs or bets. Several said they co-operated because they were offered control over their lives rather than being “bullied” into hostels. Howard Sinclair of Broadway explains: “We just said, ‘It’s your life and up to you to do what you want with it, but we are here to help if you want.’”

£794 per person may sound high but not compared to the estimated £26,000 annually spent on each homeless person by the state.

via kottke

∞ 3/4/2011 (10:15am) 79 notes

Notes (79)

  1. ilovewater93 reblogged this from jayparkinsonmd
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  12. ethicalecon reblogged this from littlebitmore and added:
    Well this just makes too much sense and goes against the notion of the rugged individual we are so adamant about...
  13. eyeswideandstillalive reblogged this from jayparkinsonmd
  14. wocowoco reblogged this from dr-robosaur and added:
    adfjdlkjl. Sorry but no. I’m not giving my money to some hobo on the street so he can go get high. I’ll work at soup...
  15. dr-robosaur reblogged this from soupsoup
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  20. reform reblogged this from soupsoup and added:
    Interesting study