scattered sites throughout Sioux Falls for the past five years. Our values aren’t really very different from the values of the residents that live at Safe Home. Thankfully, some in our community didn’t just move on when they saw those folks on the street, but went further and made the leap to find out just who they were, where they found shelter, and how they survived, then resolved to do something about it. A broad coalition of members of the community came together to develop a facility that is based on the model for long-term homeless people called Housing First. The principle behind the Housing First model, is that people whose homelessness is caused by long-term, deeply entrenched addiction to alcohol, cannot simply quit drinking and get an apartment. They can barely manage to get to a shelter, find food, and deal with their addiction. To find an apartment available to someone with their rental or credit history, much less scrape together deposit money, move in, and earn enough regular income for rent, becomes overwhelming when you have nothing to start with, and have a disease like alcoholism that is central in your life. Proponents of Housing First advocate that the answer to the problem of homelessness is to provide housing first, then worry about the various issues and problems people have, because you can’t help people with addiction, mental illness, and poverty if they don’t at least have that basic need met. The facility now known as Safe Home was initiated as a pilot project in 2007 by Minnehaha County Human Services after receiving approval by the Minnehaha County Commissioners. The project also received full support from the Homeless Advisory Board (HAB), a board comprised of community leaders with the mission of developing strategies that address the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. Minnehaha County Human Services staff designed the initial pilot program to provide housing and intensive casemanagement services to 20 high-need homeless individuals. The results of the pilot demonstrated that even with the cost of housing, the overall cost to the community was significantly reduced. Those in the pilot program utilized the more-costly services less frequently after entering the Safe Home Project, saving around $8,000 per person, for an overall cost savings of over $200,000 per year. In addition, when housing and case-management services were provided, these individuals were able to lead a safer, less dangerous life.
programming. Over the course of the next three years, this led to interest in the community as to how the concept might be taken further. Over the course of the next three years, a team of Minnehaha County Commissioners and staff, architects, engineers, and construction companies embarked on identifying a site and design for the facility. Once the site in central Sioux Falls had been selected, the building design was formatted, funding strategies were pursued and implemented, and in late 2010 ground-breaking took place. As the building was nearing completion, staff was hired to provide day-to-day operations including 24/7 coverage to ensure both safety and access to support services. Staff utilizes techniques of “harm reduction” with residents, meaning that while recovery from addictions is supported robustly, it is not required. Rather than mandating abstinence, Safe Home staff members apply a set of practical strategies that reduce negative consequences of alcohol use, and incorporate strategies emphasizing safer use, ranging from managed use to abstinence. The result of this creative community effort is a home for 33 individuals who reside in simple but comfortably furnished studio units, as well as being home to an efficient, effective program. The ribbon-cutting event was held on January 24, 2012. Safe Home’s first participants moved in the following day, and the building was full by March 2012. Safe Home is the first program of its kind in South Dakota. Within its first few months of operation, Safe Home fit capacity. Like any new program, there certainly have been growing pains and a learning curve for both the residents and staff. Successes have been seen with residents in terms of quality of life, spending less time in detox, and reduced incarceration for alcohol-related issues. So what are the benefits of having a project like Safe Home in our community? Beyond the economic benefit of fewer ER visits and fewer folks in detox and jail? Safe Home means that 33 of our neighbors can have real dignity and say “I live in an apartment over on 3rd” rather than “I’m living rough,” or “I’m camping,” they don’t have to use those mildly embellished terms to try to dignify their situation or soften that blow to the ego. They’re part of our community; our neighbors, family members, people that are no longer invisible by their choice or ours. And that is real dignity.
The outcome of the one-year pilot project motivated the County Commissioners to continue investment in this type of
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