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Amanda Butterfield Reporting A handful of Utah's homeless who just can't seem to get off the streets now have been given permanent homes. It's a new way of battling homelessness that has never been done before in the state.
Maurice Kienlin: "My bathroom's there, and I have plenty of space."
It's home sweet home for Maurice Kienlin.
Maurice Kienlin: "It's a drastic change from the way I was living."
That way was in and out of homeless shelters, on the streets, but not anymore. Maurice is part of an experimental program called Pathway Project that puts people who have been living on the streets for several years straight into housing, no strings attached.
Michelle Flynn, Road Home: "Most of the housing programs now, you need to be clean and sober, attending treatment, counseling."
The idea is that giving Maurice a place of his own will give him a sense of responsibility and pride he's never had, and in turn he'll want to change his life. After six months, it's working.
Pamela Atkinson, Community Advocate: "His drinking has been cut way back."
The project is funded mostly through the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund, and not only does Pamela check in on the participants, but so does a case manager, every week.
By putting 17 people in housing, so far, they have freed up 53 beds at the shelter a year. According to other cities' studies that use similar projects, it costs less to put chronic homeless straight into housing than to allow them live on the streets.
Michelle Flynn, Road Home: "There's a lot of cost involved when someone is homeless; they tend to use a lot of emergency services."
This is the longest Maurice has lived in one place since he can remember, and it's given him hope.
Maurice: "Eventually, be self-sufficient and pay my rent on time, and put money in the bank and get ahead."
