Why Housing First is the most Christ-like response to homelessness

On June 1st, the Trump Administration is changing how homelessness-reduction initiatives are funded. According to an official statement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is reversing the “status quo of ‘housing first’ and ‘harm reduction,’” arguing that those approaches “have failed at great cost to those suffering on our streets and to working American taxpayers.” Instead, the administration is prioritizing treatment-focused responses aimed at addressing addiction and mental illness.

On its surface, that sounds compassionate. Addiction should be treated. Mental illness should be taken seriously. Christians, of all people, should care deeply about helping people heal.

Yet the new funding requirements misunderstand both the causes of homelessness and the conditions people need in order to recover.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness defines Housing First as an approach that “does not require people experiencing homelessness to address the all of their problems including behavioral health problems, or to graduate through a series of services programs before they can access housing.” This approach is founded on the belief that “people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical.”

But we should be clear about what Housing First is not. It is not giving people free houses forever. It is not ignoring addiction, mental illness, or destructive behavior. And while Housing First opposes making treatment, counseling, or employment prerequisites for shelter, that does not mean there is no accountability once someone is housed.

Rather, it recognizes the reality that it is difficult to recover from addiction, find a job, repair relationships, or heal from illness without a roof over your head.

The Causes of Homelessness

Before we get into a Christian response, it will be helpful to understand the real causes of homelessness. After all, that’s where a solution will be found.

While it can seem like homelessness is largely caused by drug addiction, drug addiction can also result from homelessness. Similarly, mental health disorders can come from homelessness just as much as they can lead to it.

A 2016 study found that only about 1/3 of people who are homeless have problems with drugs and/or alcohol. That same research also mentioned that a majority of those in treatment programs, as conditions for housing, did not complete the programs. Housing First programs have shown better outcomes for people completing treatment.

Plenty of people struggle with addiction or mental illness and keep a home. Many have an income that allows them to stay housed or social support systems that step in when they can’t.

So if you ask the people working directly with those living on the streets, you’ll often find the immediate reason for homelessness is that they cannot afford a place to live. They don’t have the savings or social safety nets to turn to.

Homes are also just too expensive for those already scraping by. In fact, on May 20th, the House passed the bipartisan 1st Century ROAD to Housing Act to address this prevalent problem of affordable housing.

As the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ 2025 State of Homelessness in America report noted, “The lack of deeply affordable housing is the primary cause of homelessness.”

For those who lose their homes, the crisis is rarely reducible to one issue. But regardless of how someone ended up unhoused, it is incredibly difficult to rebuild a life without a stable place to begin.

Giving People Their Due

Offering housing without conditions is also a more compassionate approach. It’s an approach not too dissimilar from the most famous story of helping a neighbor, the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

In Luke 10:25–37, Jesus responds to an expert in the law who wants to clarify the definition of “neighbor” to justify himself. So Jesus tells a story.

A man is attacked and left on the side of the road, half-dead. People walk by and ignore him. But a Samaritan stops and takes pity on him. The Samaritan addresses the man’s immediate needs by bandaging his wounds. But he does not leave him there. He takes the man to an inn and pays for his shelter and care.

He takes these extra steps because that man will never get back up on his feet unless he has a solid place to stand.

Historically, Christians have described this kind of compassion as justice. St. Augustine defines justice as “giving people what they are due.” He recognizes there is an ideal order to the world, but sin has corrupted it. The Christian virtue of justice requires us to try to put the pieces back in place. What people are “due” includes the basic necessities that allow human beings to live with dignity: food, water, shelter, and safety. So that’s what we give them.

Housing does not magically solve every problem overnight. But it gives someone a safe place to sleep, recover, and begin addressing deeper issues without the constant fear of where they will spend the night. It also reduces exposure to disease, violence, legal trouble, exploitation, and addiction that often come with life on the street.

So before Christians drift into debating the economics of homelessness policy, we should recognize that prioritizing shelter is often the most compassionate way to help someone rebuild a life. And we should resist the temptation to let the stories of how it could go wrong drown out the testimonies of when it’s changed lives for the better.

As simple as it sounds, the solution to homelessness is housing. To the best of our ability, Christians should advocate for vulnerable people to find that place so the real work of rebuilding can begin.

What Christians Can Do

Making housing more affordable so that people are thriving under a roof and not merely surviving under a bridge is a difficult challenge. Policymakers will continue debating the best ways to address it. But regardless of which programs receive funding, Christians are not excused from caring for their unhoused neighbors.

We can support organizations already doing the hard work of helping people find stability. We can be the kinds of landlords, churches, and communities willing to give people a chance when others will not. We can subsidize housing. And we can address what one nonprofit leader described to me as “relational poverty” by becoming neighbors to people who have no support system left.

Compassion is not merely feeling sorry for someone on the side of the road. It is helping carry them somewhere safe.

Housing First is not a perfect solution. But it recognizes that people need a safe place to begin rebuilding their lives. And to the best of our abilities, Christians should be good neighbors by helping ensure our unhoused neighbors have a place to stay so the healing can begin.

 

Denison Forum