In southeast Kansas, housing is treated as health care, and people are getting off the streets

In southeast Kansas, housing is treated as health care, and people are getting off the streets

Pittsburg resident Stevie Perez reflects on her years experiencing homelessness and addiction that came to an end when she and her now-husband Brandon found stable housing, which was key to addressing their health, employment and goals. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)  In partnership with Public Health Watch, a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom focused on public health inequities, Kansas Reflector is examining the overlap between housing and he…

In Southeast Kansas, Homelessness Is Treated as Health Care, and People Are Getting Off the Streets - Public Health Watch

PITTSBURG, Kansas — Stevie and Brandon Perez could not stay awake any longer. They found two chairs in Mercy Hospital’s intensive care unit waiting room, a place they knew would be open, and they drifted off.Around 1 a.m., a hospital staff member shook them awake: “You guys gotta go.”It was time to move again, but this time would be the last.This time, they were serious.Stevie and Brandon mostly walked around at night. They would stay with frien…