Independent Institute Chairman and CEO Mary L. G. Theroux is the narrator of the award-winning film “Beyond Homeless: Finding Hope” which demonstrates how San Antonio, TX has decreased downtown homelessness over the last decade. Such a program can work in the San Francisco Bay Area, she says, because it addresses all the factors for each individual who is experiencing homelessness. California follows federal law explicitly with its “Housing First” policy, but housing isn’t the root issue of people on the streets of California. She says the foundation of the homeless problem is usually mental illness and childhood trauma that leads to self-medication and substance abuse issues.