The Stella Performance Module (Stella P) visualizes a homeless system’s performance using the CoC’s Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) data. Stella P empowers communities to develop and monitor strategies to improve system performance. This blog is the fifth and final installment in a series of blogs examining Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s latest LSA data utilizing the Stella P Module.

This blog provides an overview of demographic data, disaggregated data for the LSA’s three primary metrics: days homeless, system exits, and returns to homelessness, and highlights opportunities to improve equity within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg homeless services system.

Previous blogs provided an overview of LSA data and the Stella P dashboard and system performance map, system exits, days homeless, and returns to homelessness. This blog focuses on the demographics section of Stella P and provides information on the three key metrics by race and ethnicity.

Almost five years ago, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services introduced the “One Number”. Since its inception in 2019, the “One Number” has served as the primary benchmark for the number of people experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Generated from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), the One Number encompasses individuals enrolled in Emergency Shelter (ES), Transitional Housing (TH), Street Outreach (SO), Permanent Housing (PH) (if no move-in date to housing is recorded yet) and Coordinated Entry (CE) programs in HMIS. It includes both those experiencing sheltered homelessness and a portion of those experiencing unsheltered homelessness. It also provides a comprehensive By-Name List of persons experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

One Number data not only provides an overall count of homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, but also can be broken down by household and population type and disaggregated by demographic characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and age. In addition, One Number data also facilitates the examination of inflow and outflow patterns associated with homelessness. The Housing Data Snapshot, the hub for the latest data related to housing and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, highlights inflow to (Newly identified, Returns from Permanent Housing, Returns for Inactivity) and outflow from (Exit to Permanent Housing, Exit to Inactivity), homelessness.

This week’s blog post provides an overview of the One Number update, what’s changed, the latest trends and analyses; and what this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

The Research and News Roundup is a monthly blog series that features a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights about the full housing continuum and provide community stakeholders with information about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing and homelessness.
This month’s Research and News Roundup features an overview of mental health and housing instability, guidance on how health care systems and hospitals can collaborate with communities to address homelessness, and a recent analysis assessing office space to housing conversion potential for 83 major cities including Charlotte.

On January 25, 2024, 28 CMPD officers and 35 teams of over 200 community volunteers came together to ensure #EverybodyCountsCLT and conduct the 2024 Point in Time Count Unsheltered Census. Together these dedicated community members facilitated a successful Count by providing logistical support and conducting surveys with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness across Mecklenburg County.

This blog focuses on findings from the 2024 Unsheltered Homeless Census and the work being done locally to address unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

The Research and News Roundup is a monthly blog series that features a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights about the full housing continuum and provide community stakeholders with information about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing and homelessness.

This month’s Research and News Roundup features recent research on the impact of housing instability on older adults, strategies on resource use to support housing-related services for people experiencing homelessness, and a synopsis of President Biden’s proposed budget investments to increase affordable housing and housing stability.