Unsheltered Homelessness in Mecklenburg County: Data, Insights, and Solutions
Mary Ann Priester
Senior Management Analyst
Mecklenburg County Community Support Services
Jessica Lefkowitz
Executive Director
Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition, Inc.
Branden Lewis
Management Analyst
Mecklenburg County Community Support Services
On January 23, 2025, 20 CMPD officers and 40 teams of over 200 community volunteers came together to ensure #EverybodyCountsCLT by providing logistical support and conducting surveys with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness across Mecklenburg County. This annual effort is always about more than data collection. It’s about connecting with each person experiencing unsheltered homelessness to better understand what is needed to support them in exiting homelessness.
This blog focuses on findings from the 2025 Unsheltered Homeless Census and ways to address unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Point-in-Time Count
Each January, Continuums of Care (CoC) across the United States, conduct the annual United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. The goal of this annual count is to estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night and gather information about their characteristics, needs, and living situations.
Although the PIT provides valuable insights that guide policy, funding, and intervention strategies, it is widely recognized as an undercount. Various factors contribute to this, including the difficulty of locating unsheltered individuals, the temporary or hidden nature of homelessness, and the hesitancy of some individuals to engage due to fear, mistrust, or concerns about legal consequences. Because it reflects only one night, the PIT may miss those who cycle in and out of homelessness or are in less visible locations. Accurately counting people living unsheltered remains particularly challenging thus we acknowledge that the data presented here represents the minimum number of people who were experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the PIT.
Despite the limitations of the PIT, it remains a critical tool for identifying trends and shaping local and national responses to homelessness. In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the PIT is supplemented by additional data sources such as the One Number, which offers a more real-time and comprehensive view of homelessness in the community.
The PIT consists of two primary components: the Sheltered Homeless Census, which counts people in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or safe havens, and the Unsheltered Homeless Census. This blog focuses on the latter—exploring the current state of unsheltered homelessness locally. A future blog post will present data from the 2025 Sheltered Homeless Census.
Unsheltered Homeless Census
A key component of the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is capturing data on people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. The Unsheltered Homeless Census focuses on individuals residing in locations not intended for human habitation such as streets, cars, parks, and encampments. During the Unsheltered Homeless Census, outreach teams and community volunteers canvassed the entire County to locate, identify, and engage individuals who were living unsheltered. Through brief, structured surveys, staff and volunteers gathered HUD required information on age, gender, household composition, veteran status, disabilities, and homeless history. Alongside the HUD-mandated questions, the PIT survey also included locally developed questions tailored to address community-specific issues. This year, these questions explored topics such as access to and eligibility for services, experiences of displacement, shelter preferences, and barriers to securing housing. These data provide powerful insights that play a crucial role in helping strengthen the ability of the local homeless services system by guiding local policy and the distribution of funding and resources, and the development of more effective housing and homelessness solutions within the community. Deepening our understanding of the unsheltered population and their needs better equips Charlotte-Mecklenburg to craft responsive, targeted approaches to support this highly vulnerable group.
Local Count and Data
In Charlotte-Mecklenburg, in addition to canvassing the entire geographic area of Mecklenburg County, the CoC also leverages Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data to identify people who were unsheltered on the night of the PIT. Through this approach, 444 people in 421 households were determined to be experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the PIT. The majority of people (432) were in single or multiple adult households (417). However, this year, four households with minor children were also identified. This is the highest number of unsheltered households with minor children counted during PIT to date, an indicator that the number of households with minor children who are living unsheltered in Mecklenburg County has increased. It is also important to note that of the 444 people identified, 116 people had not previously presented at any of the 40+ homeless services agencies that make up the Charlotte-Mecklenburg CoC.
Of the 444 people identified, 51% were age 35-54 and 25% were age 55 or older. Sixty-six percent identified as male; 3% identified as Hispanic/Latina(e); 59% identified as Black, African American, or African and 31% identified as White. Fifty-two percent of people who were unsheltered also reported being chronically homeless which means they report a disability AND a year continuous homelessness or 4 episodes of homelessness in the previous 3 years totaling 12 months. This is a 10% increase in the number of persons identified in 2024 who met the criteria for chronic homelessness. Five percent of people living unsheltered reported being veterans and 5% reported being unaccompanied youth age 18-24. Forty-one percent of people identified reported a serious mental illness, 26% reported a substance use disorder, 4% reported being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, and 8% reported being survivors of domestic violence. This year is the highest unsheltered count since 2010 and more than double the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness since the 2020 pre-pandemic count.
Unsheltered Homelessness
Twenty-one percent of the total number of people experiencing homelessness on the night of the PIT were unsheltered. This is a 3% increase from the 2024 count. This rise in the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness is consistent with growing rates of unsheltered homelessness nationally.
There are a variety of intersecting factors that contribute to the overall increase in homelessness. These include but are not limited to:
- Shortages in affordable housing for extremely low-income households
- Insufficient housing vouchers or funding for housing subsidies for extremely low-income households
- Rising rent and stagnant wages
- Increasing evictions and displacement due to gentrification
- Lack of access to client-centered behavioral health services
- Discharges from institutions such as hospitals, jails, and foster care without an adequate transition plan in place
- Housing, employment, healthcare, and justice system discrimination
- Underfunding of supportive services such as case management that not only help prevent homelessness but also support rapid exit if homelessness does occur.
In addition to these factors, people who are living unsheltered also report barriers to accessing shelter due to a lack of shelter capacity, past negative experiences, safety concerns, and inability to be sheltered with their partners, pets, or belongings.
In general, homeless response systems are often grossly underfunded resulting in an inadequate and under resourced crisis response system that cannot meet the rising demand for homeless response and housing services.
Addressing Unsheltered Homelessness
Over the past three years, Mecklenburg County has invested significantly in building and resourcing a coordinated street outreach effort that utilizes multi-disciplinary teams and person-centered strategies to engage people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Even with this significant investment, additional street outreach teams are needed to support the engagement of all people who are unsheltered in Mecklenburg County.
However, increasing street outreach resources alone will not address unsheltered homelessness. Additional resources needed to address unsheltered homelessness include but are not limited to:
- Additional deeply affordable permanent housing and housing subsidies or vouchers are needed to support people in their rapid exit from homelessness.
- Trauma-informed, low-barrier, mobile mental health and substance use services.
- Increased low-barrier shelter capacity with both congregate and non-congregate options for couples and families with children, individuals with pets, persons with high health needs, and those in need of medical respite.
- Housing focused discharge planning that includes bridge housing options for people who are exiting hospitals, jails, psychiatric facilities, and foster care.
Addressing unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg requires a comprehensive, coordinated approach that pairs street outreach with access to resources such as housing, healthcare, and supportive services.
Why Does this Matter?
The number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg continues to increase. With sustained investment in cross-sector solutions grounded in data and the input of people with lived and living experience of homelessness, Mecklenburg County can continue to strengthen its homeless response system and ensure all residents have access to the safety, dignity, and stability of a home. If you are interested in getting involved in the work to end unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, please reach out to Jessica Lefkowitz, Executive Director, Hearts for the Invisible Coalition, Inc. at [email protected] or join the Unsheltered Workgroup meeting on the first Thursday of each month from 2:30PM – 4:00PM. For more information about the Unsheltered Workgroup, please reach out to the CoC at [email protected]
