In 2015, the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare introduced the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness (GC2EH). Ending homelessness was one of twelve initial Grand Challenges that were identified as major, societal issues that have scientific evidence suggesting the issue is solvable, and that require interdisciplinary collaboration and significant innovation to solve.

This blog provides an overview of the Grand Challenge to End Homelessness and a summary of the recently released Grand Challenge to End Homelessness 2024 policy recommendations.

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 each person experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

The Housing Data Snapshot, the hub for the latest data related to housing and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, not only provides an overall count and demographics of homelessness by household type and subpopulation, it also 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 the most recent One Number update; the latest One Number trends and analysis; and what this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) is an anti-poverty tool that places money directly in the hands of people who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability and empowers them to utilize the funds in the way that meets their most pressing financial needs.

This blog provides an overview of Direct Cash Transfer, its evidence base, and how it is being used across the country to address homelessness and housing instability.

Last month we provided a list of books that provide innovative information and meaningful insights on both the causes of and solutions to housing instability and homelessness. These books provide foundational information that is necessary to understand the current landscape of housing instability and homelessness as well as what policy and practice strategies are needed to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring locally and nationally.

In addition to this recommended Summer reading, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg State of Housing Instability and Homelessness report, integrated data reports, the Housing Data Snapshot, and the data and research featured in the Building Bridges blog, there are several podcasts that present emergent research, promising practices, and timely and relevant information related to housing and homelessness.

This blog post suggests four podcasts that highlight local and national strategies and recent research focused on housing instability and homelessness and provides a brief overview of each podcast and how the content can be used strengthen the systems in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

Each year, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services (CSS) releases an annual report series on housing instability and homelessness consisting of two primary research products. The first is an integrated data report produced by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute which links cross-system data sources to explore  housing instability and homelessness through an intersectional lens.

The second major output in the series is the annual Charlotte-Mecklenburg State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report which includes local, regional, and national data on the full housing continuum. It also features data from the Point-in-Time Count; housing inventory; rental gaps; and system performance metrics providing a comprehensive resource for housing and homelessness-related information in Mecklenburg County.

In addition to the locally produced housing instability and homelessness outputs described above, there are several books that provide innovative information and meaningful insights on both the causes of and solutions to housing instability and homelessness in Mecklenburg County.

This blog post provides a 2024 suggested Summer book reading list, including a brief overview of each book, why you should read it, and what each means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.