What happens when a revolutionary approach to homelessness becomes unsustainable? For over three decades, Housing First has been the gold standard for addressing chronic homelessness. But organizations are collapsing, properties are deteriorating, and the very people this model was designed to serve continue cycling through homelessness. Something is fundamentally broken. Drawing on 15+ years of frontline experience, from desk clerk to executive leadership, Kevin Lewis takes readers inside the world of supportive housing—revealing both its transformative power and its devastating operational failures. When Skid Row Housing Trust, a national model serving 1,500 residents across 29 buildings in downtown Los Angeles, entered receivership and lost its entire portfolio, it exposed systemic problems that can no longer be ignored. Housing First Reimagined is not a criticism—it's a solution. This groundbreaking book exposes the hidden realities that policymakers and advocates have long overlooked: • Financial impossibilities: How 3% annual rent increases can never cover 5-7% cost increases and $20,000-$50,000 turnover costs • The accountability vacuum: Why removing all consequences creates unsustainable operational conditions • The reserve fund crisis: How traditional affordable housing budgets fail catastrophically in PSH properties • Policy-reality disconnect: Why well-intentioned policies designed by researchers guarantee organizational failure But this book goes beyond critique to offer Housing First 2.0—a comprehensive framework that preserves the mission of housing as a human right while creating financially sustainable, operationally sound systems. You'll discover: ✓ How mixed-income properties (20-40% PSH) create stable, sustainable environments ✓ Why comprehensive resident education reduces crises more effectively than traditional screening ✓ How proper reserve requirements ($3,000-$5,000 per unit) protect both residents and investments ✓ Why Housing First and Permanent Supportive Housing must function as equal partners ✓ How proactive maintenance and non-punitive support create better asset protection than traditional methods ✓ Policy reforms needed at federal, state, and local levels to ensure long-term success Through powerful personal narratives and rigorous systemic analysis, Lewis demonstrates that the choice isn't between Housing First and some alternative approach—it's between Housing First as it currently exists (unsustainable and crisis-driven) and Housing First as it could be (sustainable, prevention-focused, and genuinely transformative). Essential reading for: • Housing developers and property managers • Policymakers and government officials • Nonprofit leaders and service providers • Community advocates and activists • Anyone committed to actually solving homelessness The mission of Housing First is too important to be undermined by operational inadequacy and financial irresponsibility. This book provides the roadmap for fulfilling that mission—not just in theory, but in sustainable practice. Housing is more than walls and a roof. It's a foundation for human potential. Housing First 2.0 shows us how to build systems that truly serve human dignity.
