For my problem pitch assignment, my group investigated homelessness and homelessness prevention in Cincinnati. To do this, we interviewed Kevin Finn, the CEO of Strategies to End Homelessness and asked him about what he sees as issues in the city and how we can help to prevent homelessness. He shared with my group some of his ideas to end homelessness and some of the patterns he has identified leading to homelessness. He made a point that unlike many people believe, one of the largest causes of homelessness is actually that people spend too much of their income on housing, which leads to not being able to handle their financial situation. This was surprising to me as it was to many of my group members as well. Additionally, this showed me that I am not incredibly far from finding myself in a similar situation to many of those who are homeless. One solution we were given was for legislation that would require that for all new housing that is developed for a portion, such as 10% or higher, to be made into affordable housing. While I had never considered this as an obvious solution, it did help me better understand the issue. Also, seeing a governmental solution different than many that are usually offered was important to me. With my desire to explore governmental jobs one day, I was interested to see what legislators could do, especially considering this idea was not a very partisan one.

While most of our discussion centered around homelessness and affordable housing, we were inclined to ask for his professional opinion on gentrification such as in Over the Rhine. Surprisingly, he said that this is actually positive because of the tax revenue the area brings in to the city that the city is now able to allocate towards helping the homeless. In this discussion, however, Mr. Finn did mention that although these are great results and very helpful for the region, it would still be even more helpful for more affordable housing in the area.

At the end of this project, I was left feeling that I need to get involved with helping to prevent homelessness. Due to our conversation with Mr. Finn, I have learned that ways to do this include volunteering at shelters to allow for all of funds to go towards resources and not paying a role that could be done by a volunteer (year round and not just during the holiday season), and pushing representatives for legislation that raises the minimum wage and requires affordable housing.