Sage Lewis has outlined several specific policies he believes need to be implemented to address affordable housing, addiction, and homelessness:
Affordable Housing
- Utilize Abandoned Buildings: Prequalified homeless people could be given the opportunity to move into abandoned houses or buildings. They would agree to stay off drugs, keep the property clean, and avoid illegal activities.
- Increase Affordable Housing Stock: He emphasizes the need for more affordable housing across America, noting that millions of people on disability and social security cannot afford their current housing situations without massively increased affordable housing.
Addiction
- Drug Treatment Requirements: Everyone housed in his projects would be required to be involved in drug treatment. If someone is caught with drug paraphernalia, they are removed from the housing.
- Merit-Based Shelter Levels: Sheltering should be hierarchical, with different levels of shelter depending on the individual's progress in managing addiction and mental health. Isolated tents for those unwilling or unable to change drug habits, transitional houses for those who have started controlling their addictions and generating income, and permanent housing for those who have quit drugs and stabilized mentally.
Homelessness
- Basic Shelter for All: Every homeless person needs some form of shelter, starting from tents to transitional housing, up to permanent housing.
- Legalized and Organized Tent Cities: Establishing triage emergency shelters such as sanctioned tent villages or “safe open spaces” where essential services can be provided.
- Support for Homeless Rights Legislation: Support laws that prevent the criminalization of homelessness, such as limiting bans on homeless camping on public land and ensuring reasonable regulations for outdoor living.
These policies reflect Lewis’s approach to creating a structured yet empathetic system of care, recognizing that immediate and long-term strategies are both essential for addressing these interconnected crises.