Communities continue to grapple with the challenges associated with housing homeless people who are mentally ill and some are successfully meeting those challenges.   We recently read about two such communities that have  succeeded in opening housing facilities for the mentally ill:  Heritage House in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which contains 45 apartment units, and a 38 bed facility that has just opened in Itahaca, NY. The links below provide the details.

 http://www.mlive.com/grpress/news/index.ssf/2008/09/heritage_homes_celebrates_45_u.html

http://www.theithacajournal.com:80/article/20081001/NEWS01/810010329коли под наем

But efforts to set aside housing units in  a proposed affordable rental complex  for chronically homeless, mentally ill people in Honolulu has met resistance.  While the local community seems to accept the need for housing for the area’s homeless, many are concerned by having a concentration of mentally ill people in the housing complex and what that means for the local community.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com:80/article/20081002/NEWS04/810020344/1001/LOCALNEWSFRONT