Chronic homelessness may seem like a daunting issue to tackle — but there is a strong argument to say it’s easier and more cost-effective to solve it than manage it.

Obstacles to a solution include a defeatist view that homelessness is far too complex and expensive a problem to solve, and the flawed notion that most people find themselves without a home as a result of personal choices. The reality is almost the exact opposite: it is far more expensive, on both a human and financial level, to try to manage the homelessness cycle of crisis than to take the actions necessary to end it. And people do not choose to be homeless — the causes are systemic and policy solutions exist.

Consider first that homelessness is at its most damaging when it is continual or recurrent. If someone is without a home for a prolonged period, or repeatedly, it takes a heavy toll on their mental and physical health, as well as their finances and employment prospects.

The damage goes far wider than the individual. Research around the world has found that significantly higher rates of service use — medical, mental health and criminal justice — are associated with long-term and repeat homelessness.

In addition, when individuals are evicted repeatedly for a variety of reasons, there can be a breakdown in relationships with landlords who become less likely to provide social housing. Families trying to support their relatives cycling in and out of homelessness bear emotional and financial burdens. And chronic homelessness is a drain on the resources of government and charitable helping agencies constantly responding to emergencies involving healthcare, shelter or crime.

A great example was “Million-dollar Murray”, the subject of an article in The New Yorker in 2006. Murray Barr was well known in his home city of Reno, Nevada, where he lived outside while suffering the effects of alcoholism. During a decade of homelessness, the former US Marine was repeatedly arrested, admitted to hospital and returned to the street.

Once, after being admitted to an abstinence programme, he found employment, worked hard and quickly saved up $6,000. However, after case management was discontinued, he started drinking again, leading to the loss of his job, savings and apartment — and putting him back on the street.

After Mr Barr’s death, Reno police officers calculated his cost to local public services, including hospital care, police and abstinence programmes. It turned out that he was one of the largest consumers of healthcare services in the state of Nevada during his period of homelessness. The officers concluded: “It cost us a million dollars not to do something about Murray.”

Funding the necessary housing support and continuing access to the services Mr Barr needed to help him become a productive member of society once more would surely have been a better investment, as well as more compassionate.

Based on our experience at Home, it costs about $35,000 to fund the necessary shelter and support an individual needs to make the journey from homelessness to stable living— less than it costs the Department of Corrections to house an inmate for six months.

Many of those experiencing long-term homelessness are dealing with complex issues that create challenges for them to regain housing, such as substance-misuse disorders or mental-health challenges that often have their roots in unaddressed past traumas.

Solving these issues is not easy — but it is easier than ongoing crisis responses resulting from policy choices to tolerate long-term homelessness.

With the release of the Plan to End Homelessness last month and the ongoing public consultation, Bermuda has signalled its intent to change tack and work towards solutions for homelessness rather than managing the crises that emanate from it. Home has identified 650 people experiencing homelessness in Bermuda, although we believe only a small percentage have been without a home in the long term.

The plan recommends the Housing First model to help those with the most complex needs, such as the long-term homeless. As the name suggests, it prioritises housing before everything, on the basis that individuals are better able to take advantage of wraparound services — to help support housing stability, employment and recovery once they are stably housed.

Strong evidence from Housing First programmes around the world — including the United States, Finland, Canada, Denmark, France and Australia — illustrates the model’s effectiveness, typically achieving housing retention rates of 80 per cent or more. The data suggests stable housing is a prerequisite for success in tackling non-housing issues, particularly reductions in offending and improved mental health.

The Community Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of public health and prevention experts in the US, carried out a systematic review of 26 studies, which found Housing First programmes decrease homelessness, increase housing stability and improve quality of life for people experiencing homelessness.

While Housing First requires investment in affordable housing stock, evidence indicates the investment would be well worthwhile. The CPSTF estimates that every dollar invested in Housing First programmes results in $1.44 in cost savings, with overall public-system spending reduced by almost as much as the programmes spend on housing.

Home adopts a Housing First approach, giving shelter to rough sleepers while helping them start on their pathway to sustainable independent living. The response from our clients has been overwhelmingly positive. Their courage and resilience never cease to amaze our dedicated team. In our first two years as a registered charity, Home has helped 32 individuals to sustainably end homelessness, with more in the pipeline.

A better solution, still, is to prevent cases of homelessness before they happen. Targeted prevention among high-risk individuals also features in the plan. Circumstances associated with an increased risk of homelessness include:

• Poverty

• Experience of public institutions and care systems, including correctional facilities, mental-health services and foster care

• Adverse childhood experiences and associated trauma

• Relationship breakdown

• Women who have experienced domestic violence

• Threat of eviction

By intervening to assist vulnerable individuals, Home has managed to prevent 89 new cases of homelessness. With today’s inflationary conditions and soaring housing costs, it is inevitable that many more will be at risk.

Providing the shelter and access to the appropriate wraparound services for each individual can be achieved only through system-wide collaboration, with all those who touch the lives of those experiencing or at risk of homelessness working together.

The remarkable collaboration between Home, the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, and numerous public, private and third-sector organisations in developing the Plan to End Homelessness showed the spirit of togetherness that will be needed to realise the whole-system approach to homelessness envisioned in the plan.

Everyone will have a part to play. Last week, Andreaz Glasgow, a 20-year-old student from Sandys, set a great example. He donated 60 bath towels, 60 washcloths, 200 bars of soap and 804 laundry pods for Home’s residents.

Earning the trust of Mr Glasgow, and many other donors, volunteers and supporters, reinforces our belief that together we can end homelessness.

Please read the Plan to End Homelessness at forum.gov.bm and offer your feedback during the public consultation period, which ends on February 29.

• Denise Carey is chief executive and executive director of Home, a charity with the purpose of ensuring that everyone in Bermuda has a safe, stable and sustainable place to live and that new cases of homelessness are prevented. Contact her at denise@home.bm. For more information, or to donate, visit the Home website at www.home.bm