A fascinating story from San Antonio, TX, follows the last two decades in the life of one of the city's chronically homeless people, to show how fragmented services are costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year to support the homeless. American cities could save millions of dollars by integrating and coordinating such services as emergency medical care, food and shelter, and drug rehab programs.



The subject of the story, a 48-year-old homeless man with long-term alcohol abuse problems, has been in and out of San Antonio jails many times, usually for minor infractions attributed to his alcoholism. He has managed to hold jobs now and then, but he’s largely been unemployed and homeless. This person, who the article presents as typical, has cost local taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars – and very little of it for alcohol rehab – during his 18 years in the city.

In total, the estimated cost per year to maintain homeless people in San Antonio has reached $40.6 million. The city has decided to follow the lead of cities such as New York, Miami and San Diego by introducing systems that coordinate medical services, emergency shelter, long-term housing, drug rehab with links into the law enforcement and judicial systems, and a host of other services. The approach is reportedly reducing the numbers of homeless people on the street, and saving taxpayers a lot of money.

San Antonio will help the chronically homeless "confront multiple demons all at once", the article says, by creating a homeless "campus" with multiple services just west of the downtown area. To be called Haven For Hope, the campus will coordinate emergency and transitional shelter, dining services, job training and employment listings, education for children and adults, drug detox and drug rehab services, medical and dental care, even housing for clients' pets.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, there are between 150,000 and 200,000 people across the country who are considered chronically homeless. In San Antonio, an informal count found the homeless population to be about 2,247. If San Antonio’s experience is anything like Miami’s, for example, the city can look forward to a significant reduction in that number.

Because of Haven for Hope, homeless people with drug and alcohol abuse problems, will no longer be bouncing around from jail to emergency rooms to the street and back again, costing the city so much money, and themselves so much heartache. The facility’s detox center will help chronic alcoholics and drug addicts deal with withdrawal, after which they will have the option of recovering and rebuilding their lives through a successful drug rehab program.