The homeless issue has many layers:
1) Mental health
Brenda Mayette's comment struck the strongest cord for me.  Our homeless camps and jails are full of the mentally ill who are not being adequately diagnosed and treated. 

2) People playing the system.
They don't want to work nor follow rules of any kind and are willing to live an existence of barely getting by... with whatever help they get from the government (and street begging) without strings.

3) People that are truly caught in bad personal and financial situations without any support of family or friends. 
Many churches and other charities support help those who seek it. 

4) Other. ???

I have been working with the homeless for many years, the solution to their problems is a very complex one.

Many suffer from mental illness, leading to substance abuse that makes it tough to be a responsible renter.

Others suffer from govt practices that make it impossible for landlords to rent to anyone other than a perfect tenant. (to expensive to risk an eviction procedure).

And many other reasons why people find themselves unable to rent a home.

  National Association of Home Builders estimates that 40% of the cost of a new house is Government rules and regulations.  Maybe cut regulations and reduce taxes to bring down the cost of building houses?

 As for the homeless people themselves, I see two broad categories here in Tallahassee.  (1) The mentally ill.    (2) The professional homeless, who have no intention of working or doing anything constructive with their lives.  They will game the System; they will stand in the intersections with cardboard signs asking for money.   

Elected officials that care enough about the homeless problem to create programs to get people off the streets and reintegrated into society. 

The problem continues to get worse - it is sad and depressing to see so many tents and trash all over California! 

I'm not sure that homelessness is a home problem & suspect stronger mental health services in our nation could positively impact the curve. 

I'm working with Habitat for Humanity which builds homes for those who wouldn't be able to otherwise afford them.

Other than that, I think towns and cities would need to change building rules so that tiny houses could be put in place and then either rented very cheap or sold at a low price. Or what about cities using shipping containers and converting them to homes? There are tons of containers sitting in NJ with no use planned. But towns and cities would need to set aside land for that purpose. Most won't want to.

If I could truly answer the question and solve the problem, I could be Governor of California.

I'm not sure it can be eradicated. Many of the homeless find themselves there despite all their efforts. Many suffer from mental illness. Then there is the veteran homelessness issue. To be honest, I don't know what the answer is or how much $$$ government and the private sector are willing to throw in developing resources and habitable living spaces.

Every city, state, county and federal government own buildings and land that could be used. Get a long term plan in place to build this for example: 40 units, three stories, 800 feet each with porcelain tile floors and bathroom, microwave and large wash tub sink.  Community laundry room, storage space for rent, bike racks, on site management 24/7, visiting nurse once a week, visiting social worker once a week, testing for health and drug issues monthly,  well ventilated unit with central heat for the complex,  community support of neighbors, religious groups and career counseling. Give me the land. I can raise $500000 to build it but our government needs to provide long term mental and physical health services to these people. After being on the streets a while with a mental issue it takes time for a person to find happiness. It is possible. The problem requires complex solutions not just a motel room for 30 days

Working with the homeless for many years, you can be sure I don't just spend time but dig deeper.

They solved the Homeless problem in Saint Petersburg Fl. How did they do it?  They did three things.
1. Criminalized homelessness
2. Criminalized feeding the hungry.
3. Relocate these criminals to interment camps located adjacent to the city jail.
Result: No homeless in seen in downtown Saint Petersburg.
THIS IS THE MOST EVIL OF NON-SOLUTIONS that business folks and politicians support. IF the sight of a pan-hander raises ones emotion, it is higly likely they are 'one of them.'
Let us start this conversation with understanding whether health-care and housing is a RIGHT for all people (citizen and illegals). This is the poison pill to any proposed solution.

Next or those people of faith, what do the eternal Books of Truth tell us about the homeless, poor, and widows? They will ALWAYS be with us.
In my 'deeper dig' experiences with the homeless, it must be understood that for some, homelessness, is a chosen lifestyle. One local homeless owns 4 houses. And as already mentioned, mental illness, addiction and loss of job are significant contributors. We already know a significant portion of the population is only one missed paycheck away from homelessness. A Tsunami may be lurking in January.

But your question is "How to CURVE homelessness?"
1. Understand who can be helped
2. Support the institutions of faith such as Salvation Army and Goodwill Industries who are MAJOR players in compassionate solutions to the situations
3. Get your hands dirty. 
Did I mention GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY?
Failure to understand 'get your hands dirty' will result in never seeing the truth and consequence of eternal truth of the BOOKS of all faiths.
The problem now is not applying a proper solution, but the problem today is the encumbrances imposed by the fragile and self-righteous who steer our cities. These believe the way of the solution is paved with your tax dollars. (Translated: the bigger the budget the more influence and power that department has.)  I am distressed to point to one social issue SOLVED by more money.
In my opinion, to CURVE the homeless problem, one must stop the incursions on the acts the people of faith responding the their most fundamental practice of charity.
2. Understand why scriptures says the poor and homeless will always be with us and get your hands dirty.  This is the truth behind a most famous quote attributed to the nun in Calcutta.
Politicians, due to the darkness of their hearts, can never solve this problem. However they need to be removed as the obstacles to those who can.

Micro houses, pre-fabs, counseling, training, employment incentives are all good tools to curve homelessness.
Now, wlll you vote to allow a 'micro-houe' village on your street?
Will a real estate agent or broker offer employment to someone with a criminal record (Homeless) ?
Of course the answer to both is NO. For justified reasons. But now we are seeing another part of the problem.

Very complicated issue indeed, but one that needs a reasonable and humane solution.

Every City owns land they can fence in, build shelters on even including warehousing and commercial spaces. Operations costs can come from many sources. Where it will fail is with the homeless population itself. It has been documented and proven that when rules & regs are put into effect and help is made conditional, the homeless majority opt out of programs and help. I am okay with that but no preying on society at large meaning they must go live that lifestyle in less populated areas

Tony,

Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist has my vote.

We live in Miami - Sunny Isles Beach. 

Many years ago, a very-very fine lady'd stop in my office talking about real estate and telling me about being RE in NY.  After she asked permission to use our bathroom. I got so worry - she was there over 20 min....

Not many homeless people are around in our area and most of them we've known for years...

Got listing in Miami Beach - saw same people from our city in the middle of the day there...

Agree with Fred Griffin Tallahassee Real Estate 

Most of them

(2) The professional homeless, who have no intention of working or doing anything constructive with their lives.

Here in NH it is rare that someone is homeless due to home prices being to high, There is lots of help for those who need and want it. Most of the homeless we see have substance and or mental issues. Some both. Those with substance abuse do not want help, they want money for their next fix. NH worked hard to offer free help for those with substance abuse that want to get clean, as simple as going to any fire station. There are no easy answers and local politicians are too busy not being in reality and being blind to teh real issue. 

Staying polite in my comment, I will simply agree with Kathleen Daniels, Probate & Trust Specialist!

That is exactly why I am not in politics.  It is a critical problem, and we are seeing more and more homelessness.

Sad to talk about homeless people and most of them DO NOT WANT TO BE HELPED.