This TED Talk features homeless advocate Lloyd Pendleton, recorded live at TEDMed 2016.

What'd you think would happen if you invited an individual who had been living on the street for many years,

had mental health issues, and was an alcoholic, to move directly from the street into housing.

We had heard this was being done in New York City, and we wondered,

and it was called the Housing First Model,

and we wondered if it would work in Utah.

So to make that determination, we decided to create a pilot.

And Kita was one of the 17 chronically homeless individuals

we included in this pilot.

She had been on the street for 20-plus years,

had mental health, and was a severe alcoholic.

The first night in her apartment,

she put her belongings on the bed and slept on the floor.

The next three nights, she slept out by the dumpster near the apartment building.

With the aid of her case manager, she moved back into her apartment,

but continued to sleep on the floor for several nights.

It took over two weeks for her to develop enough trust and confidence

that this apartment was hers

and would not be taken away from her

before she would start sleeping in the bed.

Homeless is a continuing challenge for many cities throughout our country.

Our homeless population falls into three major categories.

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