Homelessness is preventable. Ending it and saving lives is a political choice.

Homelessness is a deadly but preventable public health crisis. People with pre-existing health conditions are at higher risk of homelessness, and on average, people without homes die decades earlier than those with housing. Homelessness itself is constant suffering due to hunger, extreme weather conditions and treatable illnesses.

Every day in the United States, approximately 2,500 Americans escape homelessness and move into housing where they can rebuild their lives. But for every person who exits homelessness, another enters the traumatic experience that affects more than a million people in the United States each year. Until we close this revolving door and stop people from losing their homes, we cannot end homelessness.

Prevention is a critical part of the Biden-Harris administration’s homelessness strategy, but keeping people in their homes, out of eviction courts, shelters, and off the streets requires collective power state, local and federal policymakers as well as the faith community, business and philanthropy. Homelessness is a failure of many systems that requires multiple systems working together toward a common cure: a country where everyone has safe, affordable housing.

To end homelessness, we must close the doors that lead to homelessness from criminal justice systems that reject people into society without housing; foster care systems that fail to prepare children for success as they age; health systems that send people back into homelessness; and housing systems that do not build or preserve enough housing that workers can afford.

The pandemic has shown us the power of prevention. When COVID-19 hit, Congress, states and communities banned evictions, dedicated funds for emergency rental assistance, expanded unemployment insurance and the child tax credit, and rolled out temporary cash aid to low- and middle-income Americans. These policies have prevented millions of evictions, cut poverty in half, and avoided what otherwise would have been a massive increase in homelessness.

These successes shed light on some promising local efforts to end homelessness. Santa Clara County, California, for example, has something that few communities have but all need: a comprehensive, well-designed homelessness prevention system. With the help of more than a dozen nonprofit organizations, the system provides temporary financial assistance, legal aid and other services to low-income people at risk of losing their housing. According to a recent study by Notre Dame researchers, people receiving temporary financial assistance were 81 percent less likely to experience homelessness within six months and 73 percent less likely within 12 months of enrolling in the program. Santa Clara County Homelessness Prevention System. Prevention also pays off: the study concludes that for every dollar spent on temporary financial assistance, the community receives $2.47 in benefits.

Santa Clara County isn’t the only place taking prevention seriously. We see other cities and states across the country, from Birmingham, Alabama, to the state of Connecticut, increasingly focusing on homelessness prevention.

Homelessness is a political choice. We have the power to prevent it and stop it. In a country where people in need outnumber affordable housing and a housing shortage is a leading cause of homelessness, the Biden administration is working with communities to increase the supply of housing, and more apartments are on track to be built this year than any other. checked in.

Local and state governments, meanwhile, have the power to expand not only housing, but also health care, employment programs, mental health and substance abuse treatment, education and d other supports that help prevent people from losing their housing. Businesses and philanthropies have the power to match this funding with funds that can be used in more flexible and creative ways. The faith community and other civic groups can dedicate their time, talents, land, and facilities to the work of preventing and ending homelessness. Only when we all come together in a common direction can we achieve the goal of preventing and ending homelessness.

Jeff Olivet is director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. Susan Ellenberg is chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.

GoverningOpinion columns reflect the opinions of their authors and not necessarily those of Governings editors or management.