They Just Need to Get a Job: 15 Myths on Homelessness

For readers of Andrea Elliott and Matthew Desmond, the former CEO of the Coalition for the Homeless breaks through the highly destructive misinformation surrounding our homeless neighbors

Conservative think tanks like the Manhattan Institute disseminate anti-homeless myths in the media, legislatures, and the larger culture, claiming that our homeless neighbors cause their own predicament and that the best we can do is manage the problem.

Drawing on her deep legal knowledge, policy expertise, and decades of frontline service, Mary Brosnahan cuts through the misinformation to deliver two important messages: that homelessness ultimately stems from a lack of investment in affordable housing; and that the greatest myth of all is that we should have no hope. In fact, the proven solutions are well documented, and the ability to enact them depends on us all.

Brosnahan takes a nationwide look from New York to Detroit, Philly to L.A., and from rural areas such as Cumberland County, Pennsylvania to debunk 15 widespread misconceptions, including:

• that the problem is inevitable (in fact, Housing First approaches have shown great success)
• that ＂handouts＂ cause homelessness (in fact, the primary causes are flat wages and high rent)
• that homeless people need to prove that they’re ＂ready＂ to receive aid (in fact, enforcing hurdles is far more expensive and less effective than Housing First).

With brilliant insight, Brosnahan showcases how by dispelling these pervasive myths rooted in fear, we can embrace the affordable, housing-based solutions that will bring our impoverished neighbors home.

Mary Brosnahan led the Coalition for the Homeless from 1989 to 2018, first as director, then executive director, then president and CEO. Her op-eds have appeared in The New York Times, the New York Daily News, Huffington Post and been featured on 60 Minutes, NBC, ABC, MSNBC, and CNBC. She has contributed to dozens of news reports on both WNYC and NPR. Ms. Brosnahan has been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees and her alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, presented her with the Thomas A. Dooley Award for outstanding work on behalf of humanity.