“Do you really think we will end chronic homelessness by 2012?” I have been asked this question many times. Before answering I have to take a deep breath for fear I will reply “don’t you think we should end homelessness, altogether”?

When I take a look at the question, I get all caught up in the philosophical issues of homelessness, such as “is it ok for someone to be homeless for a short period of time and only once? Why are we taking such a close look at only the chronically homeless?” This issue could, if we had the time, consume us. Instead, I try to think about our entire continuum of care and the way that it works.

Since being involved on the state level through the Florida Coalition for the Homeless, I have learned that we are light years ahead of many continuums. Our continuum works! It works because we all work together with the common goal of moving people to permanent housing that fits their needs. Despite limited resources in comparison to Miami, Jacksonville, or Orlando, we are giants in our referral system and in maximizing every single resource we get. So, let’s applaud ourselves for our outstanding service to the homeless, (chronically homeless or not) and lets continue to work to end homelessness. Let’s not wait until people have been homeless for more than year and fit into the “chronically homeless” category. Let’s just keep working together to end homelessness one person at a time.

To happy homes,