Book Discussion: Homelessness is a Housing Problem
Join us for a conversation about the book Homelessness is a Housing Problem, by Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Albern. This event is co-hosted by the South Burlington Affordable Housing Committee, CVOEO and the South Burlington Library. Learn about and discuss the causes and effects of homelessness and housing instability in South Burlington and our region. The discussion will be moderated by Jess Hyman, Associate Director of the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity's Statewide Housing Advocacy Programs and by the Affordable Housing Committee. It will take place in the Library Community Room of South Burlington Library or via Zoom.
Want to join us for this conversation but can't make time for the entire book? Here are some resources to help you understand the issues:
Interested in digging deeper with the book? Read on:
It's in the title. In Homelessness is a Housing Problem, scholar Colburn and data journalist Albern seek to explain the substantial variation in rates of homelessness apparent in cities across the United States.
Using accessible statistics, the authors test a range of conventional beliefs about what drives the prevalence of homelessness in a given city—including mental illness, drug use, poverty, weather, generosity of public assistance, and low-income mobility—and find that none explain why, for example, rates are so much higher in Seattle than in Chicago. Instead, housing market conditions, such as the cost and availability of rental housing, offer a more convincing explanation.
This book is available to borrow from the library. Book discussion reserve copies will be made available at the SBPL circulation desk on March 26.
Discussion will be hybrid: in-person at South Burlington Public Library and online via Zoom. To join us remotely: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82538143783?pwd=UGpHa3NGNGg4OVZLbHlMNStLSldXUT09