A homes first initiative with needs based assistance can work. in 2013 a study in Toronto was shown that the city spends on average 75K a year PER homeless individual. this included shelter costs, medical, and other resources. that’s 75K per person in YOUR tax dollars that went towards not solving anything. Providing housing + assistance would be massively cheaper in the long run.
But often, that doesn’t work with the mentality that these people don’t “deserve” the help. So much for the “pragmatism” the same crowd argue for against the empathy and compassion that everyone deserves.
We had a similar study done in Quebec : https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/chroniques/2026-07-16/etude-du-cirano/chaque-personne-itinerante-coute-77-600-par-annee.php
But often, that doesn’t work with the mentality that these people don’t “deserve” the help. So much for the “pragmatism” the same crowd argue for against the empathy and compassion that everyone deserves.