Month: May 2024

Experiences and manifestations can be from many sources; physical, emotional, mental, paranormal/demonic, or from the Lord. ALL experiences need to be tested against the testimony and teachings of the tried and true written word of God. “Slain in the spirit” is an occult technique imported into Christianity, and has nothing to do with what we are taught in the Scriptures. The prophets, Apostles and Jesus Christ did not do it or teach it as something that should be done. If you have an experience, you had better check the source. Think twice before you submit to people laying hands on you for whatever reason.

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Highlights

• • • Homelessness continues to be a challenge throughout the United States, especially in areas where affordable housing is scarcest.
    • Housing First — an adaptable, evidence-based service model focused on getting families into housing as quickly as possible and offering voluntary supportive services — has been proven to successfully promote housing stability, improve some health outcomes, and reduce the use of high-cost services.
    • Federal, state, and local governments can align investments in Housing First approaches as well as efforts to increase the supply of affordable housing to effectively solve homelessness.

High rents, low wages, various forms of discrimination, an inadequate supply of affordable housing, evictions, and other factors contribute to the persistence of homelessness in the United States. Based on HUD Point-in-Time counts, an estimated 582,500 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2022, roughly 40 percent of them in unsheltered locations unsuitable for human habitation.¹ For a significant minority, mental health and physical challenges further complicate their ability to sustain stable housing.² Yet when policymakers invest sufficient resources, make housing accessible, and offer services through an effective delivery model, they can significantly reduce rates of homelessness in their jurisdictions. Evidence shows that the Housing First model, which focuses on placing unhoused people into housing as quickly as possible without preconditions and offering voluntary supportive services, is a highly effective strategy for addressing homelessness. The Biden-Harris administration has directed the federal government to prioritize the Housing First model when investing resources toward ending homelessness. Several initiatives from HUD and other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), emphasize and promote the adoption of evidence-based Housing First models. Housing First principles have been used through HUD programs and initiatives such as the Continuum of Care (CoC) program, House America: An All-Hands-on-Deck Effort to Address the Nation’s Homelessness Crisis, and HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) implemented with local partners across the country. “Homelessness,” says USICH executive director Jeff Olivet, “is not inevitable, and it is not unsolvable… The United States of America can end homelessness by fixing public services and systems….”³

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