Entries by Erin Nixon

The Upcoming Release of the 2021 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report: What’s New in this Year’s Report

On Thursday, October 14, 2021 Mecklenburg County Community Support Services will release the 2021 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report. The SoHIH report is part of the annual Housing Instability & Homelessness Report series which is funded by Mecklenburg County Community Support Services and produced by UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. The SoHIH report is an annual report that provides a single, “go-to” document for all housing and homelessness-related data and information pertaining to Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The report combines local, regional, and national data on the full housing continuum, including housing instability, homelessness, and stable (permanent, affordable) housing. The report also features data from the 2021 Point-in-Time Count; housing inventory and rental gaps information; Housing Trust Fund; and system performance metrics. This blog post describes what is covered in the 2021 SoHIH report, including what’s new, and what it could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

October 6, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: Housing & Homelessness are linked

In June, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, a series on the common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing, including a post on deeply affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021 to stakeholders and the community connect, invest and advance the work of CMHHS.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post, which will close out this iteration of the myth-busting series, focuses on the link between homelessness and housing; how (and why) the two tend to be decoupled; and ultimately, what all of this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

September 30, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Continuum Data Update: September 2021

In August, the Building Bridges Blog launched a new, monthly data update. This effort, called the Housing & Homelessness Continuum Data Update, is intended to move the community from a focus on the One Number to a more comprehensive data set. This new update will attempt to cover the full housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness. Even with the progress made to enumerate homelessness using the One Number (which includes sheltered and a portion of unsheltered homelessness), there are still many households who experience housing instability and homelessness and who are not yet captured. It is critical to identify the households “in the gap” to both understand the need for services and to construct effective solutions to address these needs. This approach is also an important outcome of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS): identifying and closing the remaining gaps in data collection and reporting across the full housing continuum. To that end, this week’s blog will use the new data to provide an update on the current state from a demand-side viewpoint: the number and characteristics of people experiencing housing instability and homelessness. This blog will also highlight the data gaps that exist and the work underway to address those gaps.

September 23, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: Homelessness means….what?

Last month, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, a series on the common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses specifically on homelessness, including the latest numbers and common misconceptions; and ultimately, what all of this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

September 16, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: Deeply Affordable Housing

Last month, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses on both the need for and lack of deeply affordable housing for extremely low-income households and ultimately, its role in ending and preventing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

September 9, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: “Affordable Housing” Means…What? Part V

In June, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most commonly misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses on the last of five common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing, and ultimately, what correcting these misunderstandings can mean for the work to end and prevent homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

September 2, 2021 by

New Housing & Homelessness Continuum Monthly Data Update

What is the definition of homelessness? Who is included? Who is not? Who gets to decide? What about housing instability? Do we have the full picture? Does that even matter? What are the implications of exclusive definitions? The July 2021 One Number Update shared the news regarding the Building Bridges blog transition from a singular focus on the One Number to a new, more comprehensive data update. This new approach will attempt to cover the full housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness. Even with the progress made to enumerate homelessness using the One Number (which includes sheltered and a portion of unsheltered homelessness), there are still many households who experience housing instability and homelessness that are not captured. It is critical to identify the households “in the gap” to understand both the need for services and to construct effective solutions to address these needs. An important outcome of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy is to identify and close the remaining gaps in data collection and reporting across the full housing continuum. This week’s blog will frame the current state of data from a demand-side viewpoint: the number and characteristics of people experiencing housing instability and homelessness as well as from the supply-side lens: the capacity of the system to both temporarily shelter and permanently house individuals and families in the community.

August 26, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: “Affordable Housing” Means….What? Part IV

Last month, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most commonly misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021. The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses on the fourth of five common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing, and ultimately, what correcting these misunderstandings can mean for the work to end and prevent homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

August 12, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: “Affordable Housing” Means….What? Part III

Last month, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most commonly misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness; and most recently, common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing. These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Four of the workstreams, which are devoted to the main impact areas of the strategic plan (prevention; temporary housing; permanent, affordable housing; and cross-sector supports), will be sharing information through the next round of virtual focus groups on August 12. Five additional workstreams focused on “how” the work will be accomplished (Unified Policy Advocacy; Coordinated Funding Alignment; Innovative Data Analytics; Effective Communications; and Ongoing Strategy Support) will host a virtual focus group on August 19. Anyone is welcome to sign up via the links provided at the bottom of the blog. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses on the third of five common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing, and ultimately, what correcting these misunderstandings can mean for the work to end and prevent homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

August 5, 2021 by

Housing & Homelessness Myths Busted: “Affordable Housing” Means….What? Part II

Last month, the Building Bridges blog launched a new series devoted to unpacking some of the most commonly misunderstood housing and homelessness terms and concepts. Earlier posts in the series covered the topics of “Housing First;” Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (or NOAH); and the role of supportive services in the work to end and prevent homelessness. Last week’s post focused on the first of five common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing: “Does affordable housing mean loss of neighborhood character?” These posts are inspired by the 2025 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which was launched in April 2021.  The 2025 CMHHS represents the first time that the public and private sectors have come together to comprehensively address the entire housing continuum, from housing instability to homelessness, in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Advancing widescale solutions – even the ones backed by research and data – also means overcoming obstacles that have historically gotten in the way. Some obstacles take the shape of myths or misconceptions. This week’s post focuses on the second of five common myths and misperceptions about affordable housing, and ultimately, what correcting these misunderstandings can mean for the work to end and prevent homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

July 21, 2021 by