Sharing is Caring

LA Times wrote an article about the growing organization of SHARE, Self-Help and Recovery Exchange, and their "never-give-up experiment". In this experiment, homeless people or people diagnosed with mental illnesses are taken into private houses and given homes. Out of the 90,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, one-third of them have mental illnesses. This organization is only 16 years old but has open hands. There are over 1,200 people off the streets and into the about 200 private homes. The tenants of the houses are chosen by the County Department of Mental Health and independent counselors, and they need to have a monthly income of at least $500, but pay no lease. Other than that, the tenants are given a set of rules, a roommate, chores, and must attend counseling sessions. This organization is not just giving people a place to live, but it is also saving the lives and the sanity of the people living on the streets. These people will now learn what a family is. They will have a home to call their own. They will not be considered as homeless anymore, and that in itself is already a great step up.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-share-homeless-20120923,0,7734576,full.story