Habitat for Humanity LOI
From: Paul Wilson (317) 620-1008 (paulwi1008@sbcglobal.net)
Sent: Fri 10/23/09 4:14 PM
To: vipin kalia (kalia_vipin@hotmail.com)
1 attachment
screensho...pdf (56.5 KB)
The attached pdf contains the inquiry I sent to Habitat for Humanity. The organization does not offer grants; nor does it offer to consider ideas for homelessness other than its own.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
two-page article on the proposal to eliminate homelessness
A Plan to Eradicate Homelessness
The homeless—those we see each day and others living invisible lives—can succumb to bodily insults both terrible and terribly expensive, and the rest of us foot the bill unwittingly.
The costly embarrassment of urban homelessness can come to a screeching halt by moving the homeless into simple concrete houses in specially built villages on inexpensive rural land, according to Vipin Kalia, MD (www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com).
He explains that a street person is prone to a “$1 Million Homeless Man” phenomenon, in which something like a frozen toe can lead to a hospitalization and a $10,000 to $25,000 medical bill (that’s the first one society pays for).
After the poor soul is put back on the street, if the tissues don’t heal, maggots can find their way into the wounds. The homeless man is brought back in to have the wounds treated and for further removal of dead tissue (debridement).
This cycle of frozen toes and body parts, poor healing, and eviction from homeless shelters/nursing homes leads to more debridement, and a higher level of amputation is repeated dozens of times. “Creeping amputation” becomes a way of life for the man, with him losing more and more of his limbs.
Society didn’t provide bare-minimum housing, so he ends up in a nursing home with a social cost of $60–100K per year, and over several years, this can easily add up to $1 million.
Inexpensive, consolidated housing is the key to reducing these costs and setting the maximum number of indigent people on the road to self-sufficiency.
Dr. Kalia, a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine, has been pondering for years how to prevent the worst cases he sees in his medical practice at Indianapolis Wishard Memorial (county) Hospital and Indianapolis VA (federal) Hospital.
“After a while, one realizes that nobody has thought this problem through comprehensively. It is not because of lack of brainpower,” Dr. Kalia says.
He points out that there are more educated people with MDs, PhDs, masters, MBAs, and other advanced college degrees in five square miles of the city than in many entire third-world countries. In the same way, the wealth in five square miles of downtown Indianapolis (as in central business districts of all major cities) exceeds the GDPs of many third-world countries.
He proposes the creation of villages on the outskirts of town in which concrete houses, eight feet by sixteen feet, would house the inner city’s most unfortunate.
“With simple amenities in each house and a building with common dining, all homeless people could be assured of ‘three hots and a cot’ without having to be in jail,” he states.
Existing organizations that help the homeless, such as downtown Indianapolis’s venerable Wheeler Mission, could bring their services to the destitute.
Because the homeless don’t have cars, they lack the ability to get themselves around from one service or medical organization to another. If all the organizations could come to them, rather than the other way around, their care would be ensured.
Work opportunities for residents could be created both on- and off-site, with jobs requiring no special skills or even a required arrival time. Unlike conventional programs, the residents would have no mandatory schedule or attendance at meetings or religious services.
Those wanting to better themselves would have ample opportunities, and all others would at least be kept out of the weather. Everyone would be free to live as he or she pleased, so long as no laws were broken.
Dr. Kalia estimates that total costs of building homes (about $4400 each) and required infrastructure, along with staffing fees, would be about $38 million.
Critics might balk at this sum of money, but he reminds them that concrete houses could last 100 years, and that the $1 Million Homeless Man scenario avoided 38 times out of 1000 inhabitants (about 4% of village inhabitants) over 10 years would pay for the whole program.
Homelessness has always had a basic irreducibility. Despite the efforts of countless service organizations, the numbers of homeless people can be brought only so low.
Accepting this fact of life and the expenses to society that go along with it, a more innovative way of handling the problem makes fiscal sense.
Marion County has a sizeable homeless problem, estimated to be 4400 to 7300 people without a home at least once during a year. Dr. Kalia points out that approximately 25% of the homeless are veterans who have served their country.
About 900 beds in Indianapolis provide a night of relief, scattered across 50–100 charitable groups, broken down by ethnic and denominational subgroupings. Apart from direct medical costs, the inefficient operation of these separate programs also bears a significant cost, again ultimately paid by everyone.
Though the work performed by these charities is extremely demanding and often heroic, many homeless people choose not to participate. Reasons for preferring taking one’s chances on the street, and thus multiplying the likelihood of serious illness or death, include safety, possible theft of personal belongings, and health hazards.
Some might wonder about the safety of persons in such a village. The plan calls for both security teams and for solid metal doors and barred windows for each of the houses.
Houses would be arranged in clusters of sixty-four, with each cluster segregated from the rest on the basis of male/female, single or family, criminal tendencies, behavioral characteristics, and known psychiatric disorders.
Labor to build the villages would initially be outsourced, but eventually those living in the villages with prior building skills could be given the opportunity to build the houses and other buildings themselves.
By the same token, inhabitants willing to work would be charged $50–100/month, to help support the program. Those who make nothing could stay for free, however they would not be provided TV or Internet privileges.
Everyone wanting outside work could get transportation to the nearest bus route. Because detrimental behavior can be a recurrent issue for homeless people who get jobs, voluntary escrow accounts could hold their money for a five-year buffer, released in small increments to cover costs of a basic regular life as they prove their stability.
Dr. Kalia offers up a final request for help, “This is a big and perhaps shocking idea to some, but anyone who wants to collaborate and end homelessness now can call me at (317) 414-4439. If we don’t try, nothing will change.” More information on this project is available at www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com.
proposal coauthors:
Vipin Kalia, MD, has a BA in chemistry from Purdue University and studied medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. He did his post-graduate training in internal medicine at Indiana University Medical Center at Indianapolis. He is assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University and general internist at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis.
Paul Wilson, MBA, has a BS in liberal arts from Excelsior College. His graduate degree is from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a writer and editor in Indianapolis, specializing in public policy and health care.
Half page article on propsal to eliminate Homelessness
A Plan to Eradicate Homelessness
The homeless—those we see each day and others living invisible lives—can succumb to bodily insults both terrible and terribly expensive, and the rest of us foot the bill unwittingly.
The costly embarrassment of urban homelessness can come to a screeching halt by moving the homeless into simple concrete houses in specially built villages on inexpensive rural land, according to Vipin Kalia, MD (www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com).
He explains that a street person is prone to a “$1 Million Homeless Man” phenomenon, in which something like a frozen toe can lead to a hospitalization and a $10,000 to $25,000 medical bill (that’s the first one society pays for).
A cycle of frozen toes and body parts, poor healing, and eviction from homeless shelters/nursing homes leads to more medical care, and amputation is repeated dozens of times. “Creeping amputation” becomes a way of life for the man, with him losing more and more of his limbs.
Society didn’t provide bare-minimum housing, so he ends up in a nursing home with a social cost of $60,000 to $100,000 per year, and over several years, this can easily add up to
$1 million.
Dr. Kalia proposes the creation of villages on the outskirts of town in which concrete houses, eight feet by sixteen feet, would house the inner city’s most unfortunate.
“With simple amenities in each house and a building with common dining, all homeless people could be assured of ‘three hots and a cot’ without having to be in jail,” he states.
Those wanting to better themselves would have ample opportunities, and all others would at least be kept out of the weather. Everyone would be free to live as he or she pleased, so long as no laws were broken.
Dr. Kalia estimates that total costs of building homes (about $4400 each) and required infrastructure, along with staffing fees, would be about $38 million to cover the housing needs of 1024 or 2048 homeless people. For more information, a complete version of this proposal is posted at www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com.
Dr. Kalia offers up a request for help, “This is a big and perhaps shocking idea to some, but anyone who wants to collaborate and end homelessness now can call me at (317) 414-4439. If we don’t try, nothing will change.”
proposal coauthors:
Vipin Kalia, MD, has a BA in chemistry from Purdue University and studied medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. He did his post-graduate training in internal medicine at Indiana University Medical Center at Indianapolis. He is assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University and general internist at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis.
Paul Wilson, MBA, has a BS in liberal arts from Excelsior College. His graduate degree is from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a writer and editor in Indianapolis, specializing in public policy and health care.
One page article regarding proposal on Elimination of Homelessness
A Plan to Eradicate Homelessness
The homeless—those we see each day and others living invisible lives—can succumb to bodily insults both terrible and terribly expensive, and the rest of us foot the bill unwittingly.
The costly embarrassment of urban homelessness can come to a screeching halt by moving the homeless into simple concrete houses in specially built villages on inexpensive rural land, according to Vipin Kalia, MD (www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com).
He explains that a street person is prone to a “$1 Million Homeless Man” phenomenon, in which something like a frozen toe can lead to a hospitalization and a $10,000 to $25,000 medical bill (that’s the first one society pays for).
After the poor soul is put back on the street, if the tissues don’t heal, maggots can find their way into the wounds. The homeless man is brought back in to have the wounds treated and for further removal of dead tissue (debridement).
This cycle of frozen toes and body parts, poor healing, and eviction from homeless shelters/nursing homes leads to more debridement, and a higher level of amputation is repeated dozens of times. “Creeping amputation” becomes a way of life for the man, with him losing more and more of his limbs.
Society didn’t provide bare-minimum housing, so he ends up in a nursing home with a social cost of $60,000 to $100,000 per year, and over several years, this can easily add up to
$1 million.
Dr. Kalia proposes the creation of villages on the outskirts of town in which concrete houses, eight feet by sixteen feet, would house the inner city’s most unfortunate.
“With simple amenities in each house and a building with common dining, all homeless people could be assured of ‘three hots and a cot’ without having to be in jail,” he states.
Because the homeless don’t have cars, they lack the ability to get themselves around from one service or medical organization to another. If all the organizations could come to them, rather than the other way around, their care would be ensured.
Work opportunities for residents could be created both on- and off-site, with jobs requiring no special skills or even a required arrival time. Unlike conventional programs, the residents would have no mandatory schedule or attendance at meetings or religious services.
Those wanting to better themselves would have ample opportunities, and all others would at least be kept out of the weather. Everyone would be free to live as he or she pleased, so long as no laws were broken.
Dr. Kalia estimates that total costs of building homes (about $4400 each) and required infrastructure, along with staffing fees, would be about $38 million to cover the housing needs of 1024 or 2048 people. For more information, a complete version of this proposal is posted at www.solvehomelessness.blogspot.com.
Critics might balk at this sum of money, but he reminds them that concrete houses could last 100 years, and that the $1 Million Homeless Man scenario avoided 38 times out of 1000 inhabitants (about 4% of village inhabitants) over 10 years would pay for the whole program.
Dr. Kalia offers up a final request for help, “This is a big and perhaps shocking idea to some, but anyone who wants to collaborate and end homelessness now can call me at (317) 414-4439. If we don’t try, nothing will change.”
proposal coauthors:
Vipin Kalia, MD, has a BA in chemistry from Purdue University and studied medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. He did his post-graduate training in internal medicine at Indiana University Medical Center at Indianapolis. He is assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University and general internist at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis.
Paul Wilson, MBA, has a BS in liberal arts from Excelsior College. His graduate degree is from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a writer and editor in Indianapolis, specializing in public policy and health care.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A Comprehensive, Consolidated Homelessness
Elimination to Reduce Extreme Health Care Costs
and Improve Productivity and Rehabilitative Potential
(with Reduced Cost)
Vipin Kalia, MD, & Paul Wilson, MBA
1 October 2009
Executive Summary
The following proposal attempts to justify a radically new approach to dealing with the problem of homelessness in urban areas. The approach involves relocating all homeless individuals to custom-designed rural facilities in which their basic needs would be met and opportunities for rehabilitation and productivity would be provided. Simple concrete houses in villages of 64 and super-villages of 1024 would achieve economies of scale, combined with economies of scope by virtue of consolidated support systems, adequate to reduce the social burden compared to current medical and criminal justice costs.
We estimate that simple houses can be constructed for about $2250 each. Super-villages, along with infrastructure and personnel, are estimated to cost $11,470,000, with a possible lifetime of 100 years.
Productivity options suitable for this population would be included, both for their support and for partial support of the project. Through prevention of the “$1 Million Homeless Man” phenomenon, in which so-called “creeping amputations” over many years give rise to outrageous cumulative medical costs, the program could easily pay for itself.
Established service organizations, religious and secular, private and governmental, would have opportunities to bring their programs on-site. Working in collaboration, they would achieve their ends more efficiently and effectively.
This novel and comprehensive solution is practical and cost-effective and invites careful scrutiny by public policy experts desirous of a more complete approach to this age-old blight.
This is an economical version, in which local volunteer organizations will be counted on to provide ancillary services mentioned in the more comprehensive, companion proposal.
Homelessness in Central Indiana
Marion County has a sizeable homeless problem, estimated to be 4400 to 7300 people without a home at least once during a year.[1] The surrounding nine counties add to this problem by shuffling their homeless into Marion County when their own resources wane. HUD considers a person homeless if he or she meets these criteria: 1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and
2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is
A. a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
B. an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
C. a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.[2]
The number of individuals “doubled up,” i.e., living with others temporarily, is perhaps 20–40,000 more.[3] History shows that homelessness, like unemployment, has a practical irreducibility beyond a certain level. Facing that reality, a society should seek to prevent homelessness above this base. Concurrently, it should lower the social costs associated with handling of the problem and try to treat the homeless, approximately 25% of whom have served their country as veterans, in the most humane fashion.[4]
About 900 beds in Indianapolis provide a night of relief, scattered across 50–100 charitable groups,[5] broken down by ethnic and denominational subgroupings. Various organizations have different rules for the homeless (how long one can stay, during what hours one is required to be out looking for work, and so on). Though the work performed by these charities is extremely demanding and often heroic, many homeless people choose not to participate. Reasons for preferring taking one’s chances on the street, and thus multiplying the likelihood of serious illness or death, include:[6]
· safety
· preventing theft of personal belongings
· pets
· health hazards
· control
· lack of daytime hours
· avoiding addicts by those seeking to overcome their own addictions
· privacy
· intrusion and anonymity
· enforced religion
Homelessness is a product of “perfect storms” of misfortune. Some of the catastrophes that can lead to homelessness and the impossibility of holding a steady job include:
· birth disadvantage
· learning disabilities, leading to marginal employment and intermittent incomes
· alcohol and drug addictions
· psychiatric disorders
· loss of job with little or no financial reserve
· domestic violence
· lack of motivation
· transportation challenges
Urban centers work like a centrifuge, separating people based on their luck and brainpower. Once one has been “centrifuged out,” it’s very difficult to climb back in to ordinary living, even while living in the urban area physically. These people intersect with normal society at various points, either through the criminal justice system (which has the main practical function of inflicting punishment) or through hospitals, or often both. Institutions, none of which have comprehensive services available to restore everyone to functional lives, bounce the homeless back and forth.
The $1 Million Homeless Man
A man, perhaps a veteran with a history of distinguished service to his country, lies under a bridge in winter, with nowhere else to go. His toes freeze off. By some means or other, he ends up in a hospital, receiving amputation of what is left of his toes, at a cost of $10,000 to $25,000, and is then quickly put back out on the street. (Keeping such patients in acute-care hospital beds is not usually justifiable. Sometimes, they are released to homeless shelters or nursing homes. Some of the catastrophic challenges that lead to homelessness get this unique group of patients evicted or, possibly, self-evicted. Once again they end up under some bridge.) The remaining tissues don’t heal. Maggots find their way into the man’s wounds, and he is brought back in to have them removed and for further debridement. This cycle of frozen toes and body parts, poor healing, and eviction from homeless shelters/nursing homes leads to more debridement, and a higher level of amputation is repeated dozens of times. A fundamental line of inhumanity has been crossed—living human beings should not be playing host to maggots. The doctor sees that some bone has been infected and amputates yet more of the homeless man. “Creeping amputation” becomes a way of life for the man, with him losing more and more of his limbs. There’s no institution for chronic recovery. Society didn’t provide bare-minimum housing, so he ends up in a nursing home with a social cost of $60,000 to $100,000 per year. Over several years, this can easily add up to $1 million. Because the author (Dr. Kalia) has seen the reality of the scenario play out over and over at the Indianapolis Wishard Memorial (county) Hospital and Indianapolis VA (federal) Hospital for years, he has felt the moral duty to find a preventive solution, with the interdependent help of other compassionate people and organizations.
We live in a civilized society and see thousands of our educated coworkers/colleagues drive from suburbia into downtown and back each day. Interspersed throughout this daily path, you see people holding signs saying, “Homeless vet. Will work for food.” Occasionally, we stop our cars and give money. On the next day or the next week, the same person is at the same intersection. Many times, we stop and verify the stories of the homeless people. It always falls under one of the nine categories listed under “catastrophes that lead to homelessness” above.
After a while, one realizes that nobody has thought this problem through comprehensively. It is not because of lack of brainpower. In a major urban center like Indianapolis, there are more educated people with MDs, PhDs, masters, MBAs, and other advanced college degrees in five square miles of the city than in many entire third-world countries. In the same way, the wealth in five square miles of downtown Indianapolis (as in central business districts of all major cities) exceeds the GDPs of many third-world countries.
In central Indiana, there more than three thousand places of worship and a similar number of not-for-profit service organizations. It makes you wonder whether you’re the only who sees a problem. The first time a doctor cleans maggots off another human being, he loses a certain portion of humanity. When he sees this scene repeated scores of times, he questions the validity of civility of the community in which he lives. Where are all the educated people? Where are all the rich people? Where are all the business people? Where is the government? Where is our humanity? Where is religion? Where are all the religious organizations? Where is God? We are all here. Let us all bring our resources, talents, and skills together to solve this problem.
Someone has to bear the costs, as well, when homeless people develop invisible diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and elevated cholesterol. Under such circumstances, the diseases are not well-managed and result in expensive complications, such as coronary artery disease, strokes, and heart attacks, that otherwise could have been postponed by decades. The taxpayers support this through a combination of federal, state, and county health budgets.
What Can We Do about It?
Resources for the homeless are scattered all over central Indiana—free clothing, free soup, free beds, free health care. Despite the best of intentions, the fragmented and disconnected attempts to help the homeless cannot prevent all the high costs associated with this blight. The solution must lie in a new, more integrated approach that blends freedom and boundaries. By building minimalist homes for the homeless and expecting nothing specific from them other than adherence to laws of society, those who have both the desire and wherewithal to seek rehabilitation and support services could make very efficient use of existing programs. Needed rehabilitative and basic medical services could be provided on location.
In central Indiana, agricultural land costs, on average, about $5000/acre. Either government or a charitable entity could buy 100–200 acres and create on them simple tilt-up reinforced concrete houses, sized 8' ´ 16' ´ 10' (see Figure 1). The tall ceilings would provide additional space for wall-mounted storage and for double bunk beds for family units, also useful during a population surge at the facility.
Each house, designed for 100 years of habitation, would contain a toilet and living area, which would include a double bunk bed (with sanitizable mattresses), and storage. Local construction firms could possibly donate the concrete, along with other leftover building materials.[8] HVAC units would be placed on the back wall of each house.
Each cluster of 64 homes (see Figure 2) would have a central common building with dining facilities, entertainment, and free-use laundry machines. Abundant green space and communal gardens would add a humanizing touch and possibly fresh food. Studies indicate a clear link between noncrowded living spaces and the improvement of mental health.[9] Clusters would be segregated (see Figure 3) by several criteria:
· male/female
· behavioral characteristics such as whether inhabitants choose to focus on personal rehabilitation or on addicted living
· criminal tendencies
· psychiatric disorders
Everyone would be allowed to keep one cat or dog, so long as it was prevented from being a nuisance to others and as long as he or she could provide for its food. Windows would have bars to provide security.
No one would ever be thrown out into the weather. The only action resulting in eviction would be criminal behavior. The house doors, which would be made of heavy metal, would be lockable from the outside, so that those being belligerent or dangerous could be locked in until the police arrive. Those taking on more responsibility—coordinating, making sure everything is clean, watching food inventories, mowing the lawns, maintaining equipment—would get extra privileges such as extra TV or Internet access or perhaps a bigger living space. This project could be started with 256 to 1024 homes (the estimated number of homeless people in Marion County on any given day is about 3500).[11]
Storage barns would contain tents and portable heating units for sudden influxes of people, from economic downturns or disasters. As soon as such groups would become settled, those with construction skills would be sought to help build new clusters of houses. Building materials would be premade and stored on-site, enabling quick assembly on predeveloped land.
People choosing to do something productive could have unit-based work available they could perform with no required skill or knowledge, at any time of the day. The jobs would have the following characteristics:
· unit work
· no time requirement
· opportunity to show up at any time
· opportunity to do any number of units of work
· the single restriction of no extreme, overt intoxication
One or more mill-type manufacturing jobs, such as
· candles
· soap
· small furniture
· arts & crafts
· wooden toys
would be provided, and local businesses would be asked to buy those goods. Also, local parks and businesses could hire people for grounds keeping. As this project would be replicated in other states, in those with numerous wildfires, the homeless could be responsible for clearing out inflammable biomass, creating firebreaks, and selling it to utility companies for energy production. A single major wildfire prevented would pay for the program. Because the houses would be in agricultural areas, outdoor and greenhouse farming of fruits and vegetables and of labor-intensive handpicked foods (e.g., berries), ideally organic, could be set up. Individuals with mechanical skills could provide repairs to small machines or lawn equipment. Part of the money brought in would support the facility, part would be used for rehabilitation, and part would be used for replication and expansion.
Those who consistently earn money would be charged $50–100/month. Those who make nothing could stay for free, however they would not be provided TV or Internet privileges. Everyone wanting outside work could get transportation to the nearest bus route. Because detrimental behavior can be a recurrent issue for homeless people who get jobs, voluntary escrow accounts could hold their money for a five-year buffer, released in small increments to cover costs of a basic regular life as they prove their stability.
Preliminary Budget
The first few houses built would cost extra due to the required contracted labor. After that, the existing labor pool within the inhabitants could be used.
Budget for Materials per House
concrete
floor and roof 2.67 yd x 5.33 yd x 2 = 28.46 sq. yd
long walls 5.33 x 3.33 x 1 = 17.75 (most houses would need only one long wall due to their being built adjacent to one another)
short walls 2.67 x 3.33 x 2 = 17.78
64 sq. yd
64 x 0.2 yd (typical concrete panel thickness) = 12.80 yd3
At $20/yd3, $256 for concrete.
metal door $250 metal bunk bed, with storage $300 toilet $250 sink $60 | mattress $80 AC $200 compact electric heater $850 |
total: $2246
This prorates to about $23/year over the life of the house. If a single creeping amputation and related medical costs were prevented by each cluster of 64 homes, every ten years, that
$1 million could pay for another 445 homes.
$1 million could pay for another 445 homes.
The common building would need 10 tables, seating 6 each, and 60 chairs. Its kitchen area would need dry storage space, a food preparation room, refrigerators, and a dish and pot washing area, along with cooking implements and dinnerware. Some simple entertainment equipment could include a ping-pong table and other games. Sixty people would need 2–3 washing machines and dryers. The various organizations currently aiding the homeless could provide their services (including religious services) to those who wanted them, achieving better economies of scale and scope. A dividable room in the common building could be used both for these services and for dining the rest of the time. Additionally, basic medical services by volunteer health care providers and federal, state, and county health organizations would be provided free of charge to the inhabitants.
Evaluation
The success of this program would be determined on the basis of metrics such as the reduction in costs for Indianapolis’s Wishard Hospital (county) and VA Hospital (federal) over a ten-year timeline, for each of five years after building these homes and developing related industry for the inhabitants, compared to a five-year baseline before. These savings would accrue on the basis of improved disease prevention, psychiatric illness maintenance and prevention, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and follow-up appointments with specialists and therapists, More ambitiously, social and economic return on investment for the integrated program could be compared with that achieved by the combined efforts of jails, hospitals, and homelessness intervention programs presently in operation.
Detailed Budget
subcost aggregate cost | ||
land, 200 acres | $1 million $1 million | |
single-dwelling house $2250
totaling $700, including common sewer and plumbing lines $2250 + $700 = $2950 $2950 x 64 units = $188,800/cluster | $188,800 | |
common dining/kitchen/laundry/entertainment building sq. footage and cost analysis 1 person sitting on a chair = 2x2 = 4 sq. ft capacity of 64 = 256 sq. ft moving around and table space (double space) = 500 sq. ft kitchen = 300 sq. ft bathrooms (2) = 200 sq. ft laundry = 100 sq. ft library = 100 sq. ft 1200 sq. ft cost per sq. foot is $150 x 1200 sq. ft at high end because of equipment
totaling $180,000 + $20,000 for unanticipated costs = $200,000/cluster | $200,000 | |
supercluster, housing 1024 to 2048, based on single or double occupancy $388,800 x 16 = $6,220,800 | $6,220,800 $7,220,000 | |
barns x 2 for construction materials storage $125,000 x 2 = $250,000 | $250,000 $7,470,000 | |
common barn for food storage, with freezer, refrigerator, and pantry shelves $200,000, serving half a supercluster x 2 for full supercluster = $400,000 | $400,000 $7,870,000 | |
common barn for storage of clothes/tents $100,000 | $100,000 $7,970,000 | |
bathrooms, lighting, electrical, plumbing, and so on, for the common barns $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 $8,970,000 | |
zoning and “not-in-my-backyard” legal disputes = $2,500,000 | $2,500,000 $11,470,000 |
The approximate total cost of ~ $11.5 million[12] is, admittedly, a rather large sum! Consider, though, that $11,470,000/1024 homeless people à $11,200/homeless person. Because this infrastructure and cottage industry is expected to last 100 years, the prorated cost over the century would be approximately $112/homeless/yr = about 31¢/homeless person/day.
Contributions from the Inhabitants
The contribution by each inhabitant will never be 100%, due to challenges listed previously and repeated below:
· birth disadvantage
· learning disabilities, leading to marginal employment and intermittent incomes
· alcohol and drug addictions
· psychiatric disorders
· loss of job with little or no financial reserve
· domestic violence
· high ACE score
· lack of motivation
· transportation challenges
One-hundred percent productivity is impossible. Many of these people end up homeless because society’s and all employers’ legitimate expectation is that a worker be sober and neatly dressed, show up at a certain time, work predictably for eight hours, and transport himself or herself back and forth. The homeless have proven they cannot do that! What is a reasonable expectation of this population? Assume a capability of 25% of the productivity of a normal adult population. At minimum wage, $7.50 x 2000 hrs/yr = ~ $15,000/person/yr. $15,000 x 0.25 = $3750/homeless person/yr. For 1024 homeless people, 1024 x $3750 = $3,840,000. Therefore, a maximum of $4,000,000 earnings can be expected from the group. This is divided into thirds:
· About $1,280,000 would go to maintenance of the facility, or $1280/homeless person/yr, or about $100/homeless person/month, or about $3.50/homeless person/day.
· $1280 would be given to the homeless people/month for their own recreation or savings, based on their own preference.
· A final third would be put toward voluntary opportunities to save and learn fiscal responsibility by holding the money in an escrow account until enough money could be accumulated for a five-year cushion. This would be released over a span of five years if needed or would be held in accounts similar to IRAs or 401(k)s. Individuals would be encouraged to stay in the program until they could save the equivalent of five years cost-of-living expenses. For central Indiana, that would be about $10,000/yr or at least a savings of $50,000 for a five-year cushion to prove their stability.
Just like an IRA, there would be an early withdrawal penalty. Similarly, a combination of incentives and penalties would have to be built in, so that graduated participants could withdraw their savings over a span of only five years based on unemployment and other criteria, to avoid recidivism.
Benefits to Individuals
Each participant in this grand experiment would have a much-improved opportunity to enjoy a basic restoration of human dignity. He or she could remove worries related to
· hunger
· thirst
· homelessness
· being without medical care
· danger of dying from exposure to heat or cold
· having toes, fingertips, or nose frozen and resultant amputations
Benefits to Society
Through “caring for the least among us,” we become a more humane society. No one would need to be hungry, thirsty, homeless, without medical care, or frozen to death. All human beings, based on their God-given potential, have a birthright to live dignified, productive lives. Because all homeless people qualify for and use free medical care, $11.5 million will easily be recovered in health care costs savings over 10 years. This is $1120/homeless person/yr over 10 years. Further savings would come about through reduced legal costs and costs to the criminal justice system, homeless-induced vagrancy and vandalism to abandoned/empty buildings, and costs to the medical and criminal justice systems. The $1 Million Homeless Man scenario avoided 11.5 times out of 1024 inhabitants (1% of the inhabitants) over 10 years would pay for the whole program.
Mechanics of Funding
This program will not succeed without economies of scale and scope. A lot of well-intentioned, small religious denominations are doing this on a small scale, disconnected from one another. They never have the necessary economies of scale and scope on their side, and consequently can never design a comprehensive program, with all aspects considered. Government is the ideal funder, but unlikely. This is because it has the ability to collect taxes from everyone. However, political realities such as lack of vision, bureaucratic expenses, legal hurdles, competing priorities, and lack of a “homeless lobby” make it unlikely. To win $11.5 million in grants, someone would need $3–5 million just to comply with all legal requirements, which is unlikely. Individual philanthropy or endowments are a little more likely, but no wealthy person has ever stepped forward with a comprehensive vision. That leaves others to request funds from endowments, and they all have rules/regulations/requirements. To work through all the red tape is a several hundred thousand dollar challenge.
Institutions already involved in decreasing homelessness, both religious and secular, could collaborate. Perhaps they have not entertained the idea of collaborating or perhaps differing worldviews or philosophies make it difficult. Central Indiana contains probably 3000[13] or more Christian churches. Were they to work together on this problem, $3833 from each could end homelessness. Similarly, central Indiana is home to about 2.5 million people. The per-citizen cost to end homeless—never again having to see a homeless person as a victim, vandal, vagrant, or nuisance or frozen to death or holding a sign at an intersection saying, “Homeless, will work for food”—would be about $4.60. Many probably have never thought about the fact that the medical costs for some homeless people over a lifetime can easily exceed $1 million.
Not-in-My-Backyard
While resistance from rural citizens to a local compound for 1024 homeless people from the local metropolis would be substantial, counterarguments exist:
· an area or county can use this development to show its tolerance and compassion for the least fortunate
· economic activity in the community would be worth about $11.5 million
· this system would be a showcase, drawing potentially worldwide attention
· many jobs would be created in an otherwise depressed agricultural venue
· medical dollars would also flow into the area
Transportational Rationale
To increase economic productivity and availability of medical services, some regular transportation from a blended source of funding would have to be set up. A mix of federal/state/county/city/charitable dollars would have to provide transportation from the compound to hospitals and job sites, every 30 to 90 minutes in the morning, starting at 6 a.m. till 9:30 a.m.; every 2 hours, from 9:30 a.m. till 2:30 p.m.; and at least every 90 minutes from 2:30 p.m. till 10 p.m. This would run Monday through Saturday. Sundays would have transportation every 4 hours, from 6 a.m. till 10 p.m.
Replication
All industrialized and industrializing urban centers face similar challenges with homelessness. They are subject to similar centrifugal forces, generating a certain percentage of homelessness, with concurrent medical, criminal justice, and human costs. All urban areas can adopt this comprehensive, humane model, with preservation of human dignity and associated medical and criminal justice savings. In underdeveloped countries, as urban settings arise, rural to urban migration happens, resulting in centrifugal dynamics and inevitable homelessness. Preplanning for this dilemma—the proverbial ounce of prevention—is the best cure.
To collaborate with the authors on ending urban homelessness in this generation, please contact Vipin Kalia at (317) 414-4439, kalia_vipin@hotmail.com, or Paul Wilson at (317) 620-1008, paulwi1008@sbcglobal.net.
Vipin Kalia, MD, has a BA in chemistry from Purdue University and studied medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and graduated in 1992. Finished his post graduate training in Internal Medicine in 1995 from Indiana University Medical Center. He is assistant professor of medicine at Indiana University and general internist at the VA Hospital in Indianapolis.
Paul Wilson, MBA, has a BS in liberal arts from Excelsior College. His graduate degree is from Indiana University Kelley School of Business. He is a writer and editor in Indianapolis, specializing in public policy and health care.
Figure 1: Concrete home for single or double occupant, with wall-mounted heat and AC in bathroom.
Figure 2: Cluster of 64 homes, with common community building, on 0.7 acres, with a 1200 sq. ft common building, community garden, and a surrounding security fence lockable at night. A second option for design of the cluster is shown in the companion document with more comprehensive amenities.
Figure 3: Approximately 1000 homes in a supercluster with segregation by behavioral patterns and other factors; the middle of the supercluster contains a park.
Figure 4: Family house with one extra bedroom.
Figure 5: Family house with two extra bedrooms.
Figure 6: Family house with three extra bedrooms.
[3] https://www.policyarchive.org/bitstream/handle/10207/92/78_01-C24_WelfareHomeless.pdf.pdf?sequence=1
[7] The ACE Study is one of the largest of its kind, involving 17,421 individuals and investigating the link between childhood maltreatment and later-life health and well-being. As a collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente’s Health Appraisal Clinic in San Diego, health maintenance organization members undergoing a comprehensive physical examination provided detailed information about their childhood experience of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction (www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/ACE/). The ACE score is heavily correlated with the self-destructive behaviors common among the homeless (www.thefreelibrary.com/
Adverse+childhood+experiences+linked+to+health+risk+behaviors.-a0202360686).
Adverse+childhood+experiences+linked+to+health+risk+behaviors.-a0202360686).
[8] After initial proof-of-concept housing developments at minimal cost, later developments could consider using more green building materials, such as rammed earth, with its inherent environmental benefits, or concrete made with fly ash. Similarly, alternative building plans could include the huge energy savings associated with “earth sheltering,” in which the concrete homes could be covered on all but the entrance side with soil and vegetation. Wind turbines could be added to a cluster of houses, helping to make them energy self-sufficient, possibly even generating a surplus.
[10] Family habitations would add substantial complications to the housing project, particularly related to support from the local rural school district and to appropriate handling of school expenses for families. This aspect of development would require a smoothly managed proof of concept for single dwellings.
[12] This sum is approximately $27 million less than the total cost calculated with various “luxuries”—security patrols, for instance—as presented in a companion document. It is hoped that collaborating organizations would be able to bear this extra cost in both direct and in-kind contributions.
[13] estimate based on ~ 1075 churches listed for Indianapolis alone at www.usachurch.com/indiana/
indianapolis/churches.htm
indianapolis/churches.htm
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