{"id":3495,"date":"2019-10-21T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T14:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/?post_type=news&p=3495"},"modified":"2022-12-07T14:59:58","modified_gmt":"2022-12-07T14:59:58","slug":"homes-are-the-best-medicine-editorial","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/dbhids.org\/dev\/news\/homes-are-the-best-medicine-editorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Homes are the best medicine | Editorial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Philadelphia Inquirer<\/a> October 21, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philadelphia\u2019s own Sister Mary Scullion<\/a>, who knows as much about fighting homelessness as anyone, wasn\u2019t surprised by a recent finding that 76% of people living on the street in Los Angeles <\/a>also live with serious mental illness, addiction, or other conditions. Scullion, the cofounder of Philly\u2019s Project HOME<\/a>, estimates that about 90% of the 1,000 people living on the street in this city also are living with addiction, mental health issues, or both. And simply having a home, she says, can help people overcome such challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n City officials say the experience of homelessness can worsen mental health and substance abuse disorder, and complicate treatment. It\u2019s difficult to avoid using when the person sharing your makeshift tent is doing so. As Liz Hersh, director of Philadelphia\u2019s Office of Homeless Services, observed: How can someone take their antidepressants or addiction treatment meds if they don\u2019t have a pill case or a safe place to keep them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n