28% of people experiencing homelessness in the District have a mental health disability. 13% have a physical disability. 17% have a substance addiction. All of these can greatly increase an individual’s risk of homelessness.
Friendship Place centers like La Casa serve chronically homeless people with crippling conditions like these, helping them overcome their ailments and disabilities. La Casa follows the Housing First model, which bypasses typical barriers to housing like disability and sobriety by providing homes to those who need them. Also, Friendship Place’s Neighbors First program empowers highly-vulnerable single persons with serious disabilities to transition into permanent supportive housing and rebuild their lives.
