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Step 4. Build the Infrastructure <br />Though various systems have been improved that prevent <br />homelessness, the root causes of the crisis lies in three facts, <br />- Increase the supply of affordable housing. <br />People become chronically homeless because of the lack of <br />affordable housing. The supply of housing that is affordable and <br />available to low-income people should be increased. In addition, <br />subsidies that allow people to achieve stability in decent housing <br />should be regarded as goad investments in a productive society, <br />- Increase in incomes to pay for basic needs. <br />Low-Income groups are at a large disadvantage in the recent <br />downturn of economy, Most importantly, any benefit they may <br />experience is not adequate to meet the increasing cost of housing. <br />There is a surging need for efforts to create a wage and benefits that <br />allow households to pay for basic expenses, including housing, food, <br />and health care. <br />- Building appropriate services. <br />Those with the lowest incomes rely on public systems to supply <br />medical care, job training, education, mental health treatment, <br />childcare, substance abuse treatment, transportation, and many <br />other services. Those systems are almost uniformly overburdened <br />and in many cases are not keeping up with new demands. These <br />public systems require realistic funding and good policies to address <br />new challenges. <br />29 <br />