On this edition of Your Call, we learn about Miracle Messages, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that offers $750 a month to people experiencing homelessness, a buddy system to prevent isolation, and help with family reconnection.
After just six months, those who received the monthly payments are less likely to be unsheltered, according to a new study by the Center for Homelessness, Housing, and Health Equity Research at the University of Southern California.
In a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted by the marketing firm YouGov, 53 percent of respondents said they personally know someone who has experienced homelessness, be it a family member, a friend, or themselves.
Today's show considers homelessness from that perspective — not as a statistic, but as the lived experience of members of our community.
Guests:
Kevin Adler, founder and CEO of Miracle Messages and author of When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America
Terro, Miracle Money and Miracle Friend participant
Web Resources:
Los Angeles Times: $750 a month, no questions asked, improved the lives of homeless people
USC: Basic monthly income trial shows promise with significant reduction in homelessness
NYU: NYU Silver Study Counters Narrative that Street Homeless Are “Service Resistant”
UCSF: California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness
The University of Georgia Press: Relational Poverty Politics: Forms, Struggles, and Possibilities
