Real solutions to solving homelessness require putting humans first
…not housing
Homelessness in America has reached record highs, despite the 2013 promise that the Housing First approach would end homelessness in ten years.
By pushing housing vouchers and stripping essential services like mental health support, addiction treatment, and job training, homelessness has spiraled out of control.
Overdose deaths— especially with the onslaught of fentanyl— have surged alongside homelessness, deepening community devastation.
10 years later- in December 2023- the federal government reported the highest number of homeless since its count began in 2007, including a 12+% increase in homelessness over 2022. Homeless fatalities have risen by more than 77%. Yet, the federal government refuses to alter its disastrous approach.
It is for this reason that our team came together. We created Free Up Foundation to guide local regions in effectively addressing homelessness using a principal-based-approach.
The homeless, and the communities being crushed under the weight of homelessness, can no longer afford to wait for the federal government to do its job.
Core Principles
Principals of the Free Up Foundation spent 75 years successfully tackling homelessness from the front lines. Their independently operated, regionally-based Human First system was created to reverse a region’s crisis using a carrot-and-stick approach emphasizing public safety, innovation, personal growth, and accountability. It works alongside a region’s existing system while measuring the outcomes of each system in parallel. Its design efficiently and cost-effectively reverses a region's homeless trajectory in five years, including the dismantling and defunding of “no longer needed” programs as a region’s population declines.
Its pillars include:
Accountability and metric measurement at every level of the system
A 360-degree diagnostic view and treatment of a client
Transitional residency combined with required treatment services to provide greater efficiency and effectiveness
Hands-on employment training and skills development that leads to successful community integration
Innate capabilities are unleashed to support clients in becoming positive contributors which in turn allows communities to heal and grow
Addressing homelessness effectively is crucial for those trapped in it’s grips as well as for communities burdened by inadequate systems. Waiting on the federal government is no longer an option.
Free Up is creating regional case studies to transform the trajectory of homelessness in our country by building independently-governed regional systems to support the homeless in progressing towards their full potential.
Changing lives is possible. Our team has spent years doing it.
Our executive team brings well over 75 years of front-line experience in transforming the lives of those struggling with homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and other life challenges.
We've joined forces to help local regions effectively tackle one of today's most significant challenges- the building of a homeless system that serves the homeless AND the communities being crushed under its weight.
