[NEWS] It's time to craft workable solutions to homelessness

From the Los Angeles Times: 

One of my heroes in this field is Sister Mary Scullion of the Sisters of Mercy in Philadelphia. As a pioneering advocate, she coaxed mentally ill people off the streets and into therapy, housing and jobs back in the 1980s, and she now runs a recovery empire.

Years ago, she was telling me about her plan to turn a 144-unit apartment building into a supportive housing center in a wealthy downtown area of the city. Unsurprisingly, she faced some opposition, just as we do here in Los Angeles whenever a housing or service center is proposed beyond the out-of-sight, out-of-mind confines of skid row.

The Philadelphians told Sister Mary they already had a big enough homeless population as it was.

"They're sleeping on our doorsteps," they told her.