Star Tribune: Faith communities can and will help if governments will get out of the way.

There are today fewer people living on the streets of the Twin Cities, as local governments have used funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to place many people in hotels and motels emptied during the pandemic.

While that strategy makes sense in the short term, it is financially unsustainable over the long term. Not only will CARES money eventually dry up and the demand for hotel rooms rise, but this remains one of the most expensive forms of emergency shelter imaginable.

Meanwhile, lower-cost and longer-term solutions to the challenge of homelessness continue to meet resistance within city and state governments, even among those who claim to want to solve this problem.