In 2010, Andrew Hening threw everything he owned in the trunk of his car and drove across the country to the San Francisco Bay Area to join the movement to end homelessness. What started out as a year of national service with AmeriCorps VISTA has turned into more than a decade of working to end one of our nation’s most pressing moral crises. Having provided frontline outreach in some of our nation’s largest homeless encampments, managed a growing workforce development nonprofit, served in an executive leadership role in local government, and earned an MBA degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Andrew has taken 10+ years of on-the-ground experience and written the book he wishes he had been able to read on day one.

So You Want to Solve Homelessness? Start Here offers an unprecedented breakdown of the systemic factors driving “The Modern Homelessness Crisis”. Andrew addresses issues ranging from “Housing First” to the “Homeless Industrial Complex”, and he helps to explain why many investments and so-called solutions do not deliver the results that communities are seeking. Perhaps most importantly of all, Andrew shares his experience of working in a community that as recently as 2017 had the seventh highest per capita rate of homelessness in the entire country and how a team of local leaders came together in a few short years to double the supply of supportive housing, house more than 500 of the most vulnerable people experiencing long-term chronic homelessness (94 percent of whom have stayed housed), and drive measurable reductions in homelessness.

Whether you are a concerned community member, advocate, civic leader, funder, or service provider, and whether you are brand new to the movement to end homelessness or a seasoned veteran, this book will provide immense value as a roadmap for understanding and ultimately solving the modern homelessness crisis.