How far were officials from Copenhagen, Denmark, willing to go to find solutions to long-term homelessness among single adults living in the European capital? All the way to Seattle, a distance of more than 4,850 miles.
A contingent of 16 Danish nationals -- including a mayoral representative, Copenhagen City Councilmembers, the city's chief executive and special advisors -- stopped by Seattle on Nov. 11 and 12, to see how housing programs work on this side of the Atlantic. Of specific interest to the Danes was the concept of "housing first," a system that moves individuals from the streets or shelters directly into housing.
Following a two-day visit to Vancouver, BC, the Emerald City leg of their tour brought them to two local sites that epitomize the housing-first model: 1811 Eastlake, which provides apartments to 75 formerly homeless men and women battling chronic alcoholism, and Plymouth on Stewart, an 84-room facility offering subsidized rents to single adults. The delegation also visited the Urban Rest Stop, which offers bathrooms, showers and laundry services free of charge, and FareStart, a culinary job-training program for homeless and low-income individuals.
Danish officials began their trans-Atlantic search this past summer by contacting Bill Block, project director of the Committee to End Homelessness, in hopes of turning a partial victory into a complete one. In Copenhagen, the city had found success in keeping family homelessness at a minimum, thanks to the country's tax-financed