Last month, in my post Crunching the Numbers, we looked at homelessness in Oregon and asked a simple question: if the current approach is working, why do the numbers look the way they do?
Oregon’s homeless population has continued to grow even as millions of dollars have been spent, programs have expanded, and reports have been written. The system has produced activity, but not enough movement off the streets. As a result, street-level homelessness remains a serious problem in cities throughout our state.
That is why the recent shift in federal homelessness funding is worth paying attention to.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced new funding through SAMHSA aimed at homelessness, addiction, mental illness, treatment, recovery support, and long-term independence. The STREETS program is designed to support street-based engagement, treatment, recovery services, housing support, and coordinated care for people facing homelessness along with serious mental illness, addiction, or both. [1]
In other words, part of the federal conversation appears to be changing.
But to understand why that matters, it helps to know who we are talking about.
When most people think about federal homelessness funding, they tend to think about “the federal government” as one large system. But different federal departments approach homelessness from different angles.
Last month, we focused mainly on HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD is the department most closely tied to housing policy, shelter funding, Continuums of Care, permanent supportive housing, and many of the systems Oregon uses to respond to homelessness. HUD describes the Continuum of Care Program as a federal program designed to promote a community-wide commitment to ending homelessness and to fund efforts by nonprofit providers, states, tribes, and local governments. [2]
Here in Oregon, many nonprofits seeking to address homelessness are connected, directly or indirectly, to HUD funding and are deeply invested in Housing First solutions. Because of this, our state has pushed back against recent federal efforts to move more homelessness funding toward transitional housing, treatment, recovery, self-sufficiency, and accountability.
The new HHS/SAMHSA funding comes from a different part of the federal government.
HHS is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Within HHS is SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA focuses on mental health, substance use disorders, treatment, prevention, and recovery.
That distinction matters because the lens we use to understand homelessness shapes the solutions we offer.
HUD tends to look at homelessness through a housing lens. HHS and SAMHSA look at homelessness through a health and recovery lens. At the Medford Gospel Mission, we look at homelessness through a relational lens.
Housing matters. Where someone sleeps at night matters. No one should have to sleep outside because they have no other choice. Treatment and recovery matter too. Many people experiencing homelessness are also struggling with addiction, mental illness, trauma, and the need for long-term support.
But housing and recovery, as important as they are, should not be the deepest goal.
If we see homelessness only through a housing lens, we will focus mainly on apartments, placements, leases, and subsidies. If we see it through a health and recovery lens, we will focus on treatment, support, sobriety, stability, and long-term independence.
At the Mission, we believe the answer goes deeper.
We believe homelessness is not simply about the absence of housing or the presence of addiction or mental illness. It is often connected to broken relationships: with God, with self, with others, and with creation.
This relational understanding of poverty is central to the framework developed in the books When Helping Hurts and Becoming Whole, which describe poverty not merely as a lack of material resources but as brokenness in foundational relationships. [3]
That is why our goal at the Mission is not simply to help people get housed, get sober, or get services. Those things may matter, but they are not the end of the story. Our goal is to see people become whole: restored to God, restored to themselves, restored to others, and restored to the world they were created to steward.
So this shift in government philosophy matters.
It does not mean every federal program will suddenly become effective. It does not mean government funding can do the work of the local church. It certainly cannot. And it does not mean we should place our hope in Washington, D.C. for we place our hope in Christ alone.
But it does show that the cracks in the old framework are becoming harder to ignore.
For years, the dominant message has often sounded like this: homelessness is primarily a housing problem, and the solution is to get people housed as quickly as possible. But when a system measures success mainly by services delivered, beds counted, dollars spent, or housing placements made, it can miss the deeper question: are people actually becoming whole?
At the Medford Gospel Mission, we ask the question differently.
HUD asks, “Where will this person live?”
HHS asks, “How will this person recover?”
We ask, “What does this person need in order to become whole?”
Housing matters. Treatment matters. Recovery matters. But we believe the deepest answer is God restoring broken relationships with Himself, with self, with others, and with creation.
And this is why your support matters.
The Medford Gospel Mission is not supported by government funding. That means we are not dependent on shifting federal priorities, changing grant requirements, or whatever money Washington decides to hand out. We are able to stay focused on the work God has called us to do because of you and people like you.
Your generosity makes it possible for us to offer more than a bed, more than a meal, and more than a program. It enables us to walk with men and women as they pursue restoration, rediscover purpose, and move toward wholeness in Christ.
Thank you for your support!
Sources
1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, “Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-Based Treatment and Support (STREETS),” Funding Opportunity SM-26-019. SAMHSA states that the purpose of the program is to support “comprehensive, street-based engagement, treatment, and recovery support services” for people experiencing homelessness with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, substance use disorders, or co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sm-26-019
See also: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Secretary Kennedy Announces Over $700 Million in New Funding to Address Mental Illness, Addiction, and Homelessness.” HHS describes the announcement as more than $700 million in new investments, including a $96 million STREETS funding opportunity. https://www.hhs.gov/press-room/secretary-kennedy-announces-new-funding-mental-illness-addiction-homelessness.html
2. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “Continuum of Care Program.” HUD describes the CoC Program as designed to promote a community-wide commitment to ending homelessness and to provide funding for nonprofit providers, states, tribes, local governments, and other partners. https://www.hud.gov/hud-partners/community-coc
See also: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “HUD Overhauls Federal Homelessness Assistance.” This announcement describes HUD’s recent effort to reshape Continuum of Care funding with more emphasis on recovery, self-sufficiency, and accountability. https://www.hud.gov/news/hud-no-26-038
3. Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor…and Yourself. Moody Publishers. See especially the discussion of poverty as broken relationships with God, self, others, and the rest of creation.
Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic, Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream. Moody Publishers. See especially the discussion of human flourishing as restored relationships with God, self, others, and creation.
Partner with us in God’s work of relational restoration.