MissionView VillageNews and Events

Is MissionView Village is a Good Investment?

The Million Dollar Question: Is MissionView Village is a Good Investment?

By: Brian Bouteller, Executive Director

MissionView Village will offer a different approach to homelessness, focusing on permanent solutions instead of repeated emergency responses.

In the process, it will:

  • Serve up to 20 senior adults at a time who are experiencing homelessness – all transitioning from traditional Gospel Rescue Mission programs, yet with insufficient income to afford local housing.
  • Equip and position each individual for greater levels of accountability.
  • Charge sliding-scale program fees at 40% of income, enabling the Gospel Rescue Mission to operate and manage MissionView Village affordably.
  • Replace high-cost community responses with measurable reductions in emergency services, hospital care, law enforcement, jail bookings, and court costs.
MissionView Village

This is not simply an investment in housing units. MissionView Village will provide lasting outcomes connected directly to the Gospel Rescue Mission’s proven recovery, community readiness, and discipleship programs.Rather than cycling individuals through emergency rooms, jails, and crisis systems, MissionView Village will replace instability with structure, dignity, hope, and long-term life change. As a community stabilization initiative, MissionView Village will be built to last.

Even excluding the cost of vandalism and property damage, homelessness results in significant public expenses. Here are some conservative annual estimates:

  • Emergency Room visits and hospitalizations: $10,000 to $20,000
  • Law enforcement and jail: $8,000 to $15,000
  • Crisis response and outreach: $5,000 to $10,000
  • Court, probation, and public services: $5,000 or more

That’s an annual cost of $28,000 to $50,000 per person. When you multiply that by 20 seniors housed at MissionView Village, it’s a community cost savings of up to $1,000,000 each year!

Launched with an initial $3.3 million investment, the project will cover its own operating costs. This life-changing initiative will reduce ongoing pressure on multiple publicly funded systems. As a benefit to the entire community, MissionView Village is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make to address local homelessness. But ultimately, this is about more than just cost savings; it’s about restoring dignity to our homeless seniors and giving them the safety of a home they can count on.

Sources/Further Reading:

 

Report: Public Service Reductions Associated with Placement of Homeless Persons with Severe Mental Illness in Supportive Housing (2002)

Publisher: Housing Policy Debate (Fannie Mae Foundation) / University of Pennsylvania

      • Study found that placing a homeless person in housing reduced their annual use of public services (hospitals, shelters, jails) by $16,282 (in 1999 dollars).

Direct PDF Link: https://shnny.org/uploads/The_Culhane_Report.pdf

 

Report: Ending Chronic Homelessness Saves Taxpayers Money

Publisher: National Alliance to End Homelessness Supports:

 

Report: The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (2023)

Publisher: UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative

 

Report: Emergency Department Visits Among People Experiencing Homelessness (2023)

Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – MMWR

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