I was very distressed to read of the death of John Tarbay, a homeless man who lived under the Hamilton Street bridge.

His death highlights the dire need for a housing-first approach to helping the homeless here in the Valley. Under housing first, he could have been in a studio apartment (or shared housing) surrounded by the support services and health care he had needed. Many studies have now shown that providing a permanent home for the homeless costs the community less per year than the total cost of ambulance and police calls, emergency room visits and hospital admissions.

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