Here at Home (Web Site)

Every year, 1 in 5 of us experiences mental illness. The most vulnerable risk falling into a vicious cycle of instability, poverty and addiction. This is life for a small group of long-term homeless people trapped at the margins of society. Standard practice is to get people clean, sober and medicated before housing them. The stats say this doesn't work. What if that script were flipped? What if we gave people homes first?

Here at Home is a Web documentary about At Home, a radical Canadian experiment that aims to prove there is a way to end chronic homelessness. Small, local crews are shooting a series of short docs in each of the 5 trial cities. Dispatches from the project in action, the films are posted, one by one, throughout the final year of the study. Each is an intimate glimpse inside the world of the participants, service providers and community members, a snapshot of the intense personal dramas unfolding across the nation.

Is it really possible to end chronic homelessness? Is "housing first" the answer? Can we afford it? Is it fair? With 50 films, data from the study and a dynamic blog, Here at Home is a window on a cutting-edge social experiment that could change your heart, your mind and your bottom line.