Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Erin Dalrymple
Ms. Elizabeth Caruso
UWRT 1103-029
3 May 2016
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was opened In November of 2014 Boulders first apartment complex was opened under
this programs initiative. Many people were opposed to this complex being opened in
their neighborhood because they believed it would be a magnet for the kind of
unsavory behavior [that] already afflicted the area due to the presence of the homeless
shelter already established in their neighborhood (Meltzer). I find this stereotypical
because not everyone whos homeless is bound to commit unsavory behavior like
these people were inclined to believe. After a year went by there were no complaints
comingthere had been no police calls or reported complaints from the neighbors. and
one person One neighbor in particular, Gail Promboin, who had previously opposed the
initiative said she was partially wrong for believing the program would fail (Meltzer).
The people of Boulder had made an assumption that all homeless people are were
either drug addicts or mentally unstable. This is the kind of mindset that needs to be
changed in order to end homelessness. My blog includes ways in which this mindset
can be changed. Starting with things that an ordinary, everyday person can do to help
out. Things such as donating money, clothing, food, time, and toys. The most important
thing that people can do it to become aware of the facts. The facts are that tThe old way
of helping people find homes was to fix their underlying problems first and then give
them housing. This didnt always work, so Housing First was implemented. Thats why
my blog was created, to help spread the word of what Housing First is and all the good
it can do.In order to help spread the word of what kind of helpful programs are out there
I created a blog for my generalized piece.
Since Im talking about an important topic, which requires a certain serious
attitude when reading, I decided to go the professional route when constructing my blog.
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By making the layout easy to follow and keeping the color scheme simple my blog
becomes more aesthetically credible. If I had added random quotes or bright colors my
blog might have been perceived in a way that I didnt want. The layout is easy to follow
with tags on each post to help the reader find specific articles. The whole idea of my
product was to interact with others and help increase their knowledge on the issue of
homelessness, so I included a comments bar on my page. I wanted This is so whoever
reads my page to will feel free to express their opinions or ask questions about anything
that what Ive written.
Helping Progress, Mmy blog, touches on the point that the Housing First
program not only reduced the percentage of people living on the streets or in
sheltershomeless population, but it also saved the taxpayers money. Homeless
peopleness costs taxpayers a lot of money because of shelter and hospital costs.
Housing First, which is Permanent supportive housing, saved Denver $15,733 per year
per person in public costs for shelter, criminal justice, health care, [and] emergency
room [...] costs (Snyder). I think that if more people knew that helping to fix the solution
now would save them money in the long run, then they would be more inclined to
donate their money or time. Not only did Denver save money when they implemented
the Housing First program, but so did Utah.The same great results were seen in Utah.
The number of homeless people in Utah not only decreased, but Utah [also] found that
giving people supportive housing cost the system about half as much as leaving the
homeless to live on the street (Carrier). If people wont help out of the kindness of their
hearts, then I think they will when they hear that Housing First helps save money. Thats
why I included a page for donations in my blog. I feel, along with thousands of others,
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that the more awareness that this cause gets the more donations it will receive.s too.
Some people like to donate money to a specific charity, so they know exactly where and
what their money is going to, so I also included a section where donations to specific
charities is available. This way more people are likely to give money., so that way
people are more inclined to give.
The best way to approach a problem and fix it is to know your options and thats
what I hope my blog is able to do. Spreading knowledge of Housing First and informing
people of how it workshelps will prove useful in preventing and ending homelessness
forever, so no, I dont think its not an impossible task.
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Snyder, Kaitlyn. "Study Data Show That Housing Chronically Homeless People Saves
Money, Lives." National Alliance to End Homelessness. 30 June 2015.
Web. 12
Apr. 2016.
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