COOS BAY — Determining the cause of homelessness can be somewhat like asking — which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Some argue it’s a lack of affordable housing and family-wage jobs. Others blame addiction, which makes landlords and employers leery of providing shelter or jobs to such people.

Some say the health-care system drives people into debt and then onto the streets. And others contend not enough has been done to provide veterans a way to return home and re-adjust to civilian life.

The simple answer is there is no one reason for homelessness here. And at a meeting Thursday night at Southwestern Oregon Community College, a gathering of concerned citizens brainstormed on ways to find people homes.

It was the first of three meetings scheduled to discuss homelessness in Coos County and ways it can be ended. The topic was homeless families, though it veered off into discussions of veteran issues and mental health concerns.

Facilitated by Crystal Shoji, the meeting gave participants a chance to share their understanding of problems homeless families face and programs could be put into place to resolve them.

The recurring theme was there is a lack of affordable housing and the increasing number of landlords who resist renting to tenants with poor rental, credit and criminal histories.

Bob More, director of housing and emergency services for Oregon Coast Community Action, said his office tries to work with landlords to accept tenants who might otherwise go homeless. The problem is that many have had a bad experience with someone trying to get back on their feet, so they either deny housing or make it harder to get a rental. Some landlords charge as much as a $1,000 deposit for a rental that costs $650 a month, More said.

More said the key is to build trust with landlords, that Community Action’s clients will be good tenants as long as they can get services to help them obtain and keep jobs.

Others at the event said it isn’t that easy.

Roy Wright, director of Coos County Community Corrections, said a lot of homeless people don’t have access to health care. So when they get injured, they are forced to go to the emergency room, where they pay more for care. Then, when they can’t pay their bills, it hurts their credit score, which makes it harder to get a place to stay.

Or, if they have mental health problems, they don’t have enough money to pay for medicine. That means many often resort to alcohol, which disqualifies them from many jobs.

“A quart of beer is cheaper than the medication they need, so they self-medicate,” he said.

Coos County Commissioner Nikki Whitty said she fears a lot of soldiers will be returning home from Iraq or Afghanistan with maladies that could go untreated and lead them and their families into financial hardship.

She suggested a solution could be getting veterans automatically included in the Oregon Health Plan, enabling them to have easy access to health care.

Others suggested the creation of a savings fund that families could dip into to pay for emergency housing if they are kicked out of their homes.

More was in favor of a program known as rapid rehousing, where families are placed in a home immediately, rather than forcing them to meet goals of getting a job and sobering up. He noted that people are more likely to succeed if they are put in a stable environment, rather than a shelter.

But there’s more to it than that. Jill Branscom, a Community Action housing specialist, said students need to learn financial management. Some students who graduate from high school don’t know how to write a check, let alone budget their money, she said.

(Staff Writer Alexander Rich covers homeless issues for The World. He can be reached by calling 269-1222, ext. 234; or by e-mailing to arich@theworldlink.com.)