Written by Rebecca Mazur
Thumbnail Photos (Left) by Diego Sanchez (La Vanguardia) & (Right) by Santi Burgos (El País)
Empowerment Based Model
HELP Program
Homeless Entrepreneur’s 12-month HELP Program is a comprehensive system that empowers people experiencing homelessness and poverty to integrate into long-term, meaningful employment. With a structured response and sustainable revenue growth, Homeless Entrepreneur aims to serve homeless people and completely change the way we think about homeless services by adding value to society.
Spain’s current housing solution for the homeless is laid out in the National Housing Plan (2018-2021). This plan includes rental, eviction and youth assistance; only about 25% of homeless centers in Spain are owned by the state, the rest being owned by NGOs and religious organizations. Due to systematic causes and societies perception of homelessness, organizations like Homeless Entrepreneur and our corporate sponsorships, like IBM & IEBS, play a larger role in redefining what it means to be homeless. We believe that giving people structured tools and skills to empower themselves is a more sustainable way to fix homelessness in Spain and around the world.
According to the National Housing Plan, the two systematic causes that limit the effectiveness and suitability of Spain’s housing program are first, lack of sufficient and accessible housing for the homeless, and second, lack of personalized job offers for the homeless. Even within the literature of the Plan, the word “housing” is mentioned 30 times more than the word “work,” conveying the disconnect between housing and employment (or unemployment) in European policy. Homeless Entrepreneur’s HELP program seeks to change the dialogue by prioritizing empowerment, which connects valued-employment to dignified housing.
“Empowerment does not start with the government, working or even obtaining money. Empowerment ultimately comes down to an individual’s mindset and actions. People may be impoverished or “rich but not empowered”, so money is not necessarily the source of empowerment. According to Dr. Flügge, individuals and their community (neighbors, family, etc.) are the most important for support and empowerment. ”
Example of Homeless Entrepreneur empowering its beneficiaries: Replacing a cardboard sign for a job contract.
Photo (left) by Homeless Entrepreneur and (right) by Diego Sanchez (La Vanguardia)
Housing Launchpad Program
Homeless Entrepreneur’s Housing Launchpad Program is designed to turn a liability in the housing sector into an asset for addressing homelessness. It takes individuals from being homeless to living in dignified housing while simultaneously increasing their possibility of becoming an active and working citizen. Once a person has dignified housing, they work very closely with Homeless Entrepreneur’s support network to advance in sector-specific job training and recognizing their true professional potential. They work with programs like IBM’s SkillsBuild, in order to learn the skills to provide value to current and future corporate needs.
Take Homeless Entrepreneur, Antonio Tomasio, for example. Antonio is enrolled in the HELP Program and consecutively, the Housing Launchpad Program. Antonio is a well-educated individual, who has a Master of Business Administration, and a doctoral degree in tourism. He has traveled to over 60 countries; has started a bar-cafeteria; and is an author of many books (these books are for purchase on Amazon). However, due to COVID-19, his situation became complicated, and he could not sustain his small business, wich led him to becoming homeless. Throughout all of this, Antonio continued to write, and is currently working on a novel for Homeless Entrepreneur called “Hidden Stars”, to provide a framework and narration of what it means to be homeless. While the tourism industry declined due to the ongoing pandemic, Homeless Entrepreneur encouraged Antonio to switch career paths and with collaboration with IEBS, he is now studying his master’s in digital management. This sector is current and highly valued in employment prospects, where Antonio can explore content creation and digital growth hacking.
Assistance Based Models
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is not a recent debate, it is an idea that is more than 200 years old, originating in Thomas Paine and Thomas Spence’s in The Rights of Man (1791), Agrarian Justice (1795) and The Rights of Infants (1797). Universal Basic Income is income paid by the government in regular intervals and fixed amounts to every citizen. What does that look like in real life? Every citizen regardless of income, gender, marital status, disability, etc. will receive government issued payments. In theory, how the money that is spent is entirely up to the individual, however this is a topic of great debate. Countries that have experimented with Universal Basic Incomed utilized control groups to test who requirements to receive a basic universal income, such as loans that need to be repaid and or controlling how the money should be spent, such as on education or healthcare for families.
Arguments for and against Universal Basic Income have been rigorously experimented and scholars and policy makers now have now have sustainable evidence to support the implementation of a Basic Universal Income within their country. However, not all agree with this policy, like Barbara Flügge, who feels that the policy is “too much weight on a society that is not ready.” Instead, society should focus on the urbanization framework, where federal governments give the rights to cities to decide appropriate income assistance for their citizens.
While Universal Basic Income is a well-known, widely debated policy, there has been other models in literature that deserve attention in the attempt to remedy and prevent homelessness. The Staircase Model and Housing First Model have been adopted in Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), which all have extensive social-democratic welfare systems. These policies aim to alleviate the issue of homelessness by providing housing either conditionally, or unconditionally to people experiencing homelessness. These policies are aimed towards individuals coping with addiction and mental health issues, however in less extensive welfare states, it is used to address a wider group of poor people who face homelessness due to affordability or who are temporarily homeless.
Staircase Model
The staircase model requires that the person must adhere to prerequisites in order to receive their own apartment. These steps offer accommodations in a stage, with independent living the ultimate goal they are working towards. This gradual approach is to ensure the ability of the individual to complete rehabilitation, or act in accordance with targets laid out for them.
José Carlos, a homeless person, living in a house managed by Asociación Realidades, within their Housing First program.
Photo by Santi Burgos (El País)
Housing First Model
The Housing First model founded by Sam Tsemberis is an alternative remedy for homelessness and does not require prerequisites in order for the individual to receive housing. They are provided with housing first, then care and support are provided second. Housing First originated as a response to the primary, staircase model, and has now been experimented in large- scale homelessness programs in Denmark, Finland, Canada, and France. The key components of this program are early stabilization, independent housing, flexible support and intervention methods. However, this method is subject to structural barriers, such as shortages of affordable housing for low income groups, especially in North American and European cities, according to the European Journal of Homelessness.
Why should you support the HELP program?
Homeless Entrepreneur’s HELP Program has already empowered 27 of people out of homelessness and poverty, and into stable employment and housing. Over a 12-month period, 7 stages must be completed in order to apply an encompassing and holistic approach to end homelessness for each individual. This ecosystem contains one coordinator and nine managers that will cover all aspects including: housing, health, professional development, training, finances, legal, communication, sales and general assistance: Homeless Entrepreneur knows that just giving someone a check every month is not enough to turn them into a successful and independent active citizen.
According to Homeless Entrepreneur’s founding president, Andrew Funk, “an important goal for HE is to inspire civic and institutional change in the status quo of how we end homelessness. By providing housing and job training we can change people’s lives, but ultimately, we hope to inspire a new framework of addressing homelessness. Our network of Homeless Entrepreneurs is constantly growing, which is why we focus on sustainable revenue growth streams that are initially supported by donors and partners.
‘Positive, forward-thinking contributions are extremely important in order to add sustainable value to society.’”
About the Author
Hello readers and supporters of Homeless Entrepreneur!
I am Rebecca Mazur, a social policy intern with Homeless Entrepreneur and I will be focusing on important topics relating to poverty, homelessness, and social policy in Spain. I am currently based in Barcelona, Spain for a Study Abroad program, however I attend The College of New Jersey as a political science major. I have experience working with diverse and differently abled groups and assisting in housing and food programs for people who are struggling. My passion is helping others through social policy and programs that empower people to live meaningful, independent, and active lives. I am excited to be working with Homeless Entrepreneur and discussing important topics in upcoming articles.
Please donate, join the conversation and leave comments and feedback below!