Stella is an analysis and strategy tool developed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to support Continuums of Care (CoCs) in understanding the performance of their homeless services system. The Stella Performance Module (Stella P) visualizes homeless system performance using a CoC’s Longitudinal System Analysis (LSA) data so that the community can develop and monitor system performance improvement strategies. This blog is the first in a series of blogs that will examine Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s most recent LSA data using the Stella P Module.
This blog provides an overview of the LSA and Stella P, highlights the System Performance Map, and explains how this tool can be used to develop system performance improvement strategy in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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. In July 2023, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care implemented a new Homeless Management Information System (HMIS): Clarity Human Services: Bitfocus. This system transition was undertaken to facilitate system improvement by strengthening and enhancing the local homeless services data system. The transition was necessary in order to support the community’s shared goal of delivering efficient and effective, impactful, data-informed homeless services. However, due to the transition, One Number metric data updates on the dashboard were delayed as we worked to develop the needed reports to provide these metrics to the community. We are excited to share that with the support of Community Solutions, Built for Zero, the needed reports have been finalized and we are able to resume our monthly reporting of the One Number.

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 McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act mandates that Continuums of Care (CoCs) evaluate their efforts to address homelessness. To meet this requirement, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has established seven System Performance Measures. CoCs are required to report on these measures annually to demonstrate their effectiveness in addressing homelessness. These metrics serve as vital tools for monitoring local efforts and provide insights to inform system improvement. HUD uses the data provided by CoCs to evaluate their performance and determine the allocation of funding.
This blog is the final installment in a series delving into Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s performance on these measures and their significance for the local community. In this blog post, we offer an overview and present data on System Performance Measure Seven: Successful Placement in or Retention of Permanent Housing .

In December 2023, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report which offers a comprehensive overview of the latest data on housing instability and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This report serves as a valuable resource for making informed policy and practice decisions, facilitating optimized resource allocation, and improving systems of care. The report explores three key components of the housing continuum: housing instability, homelessness, and stable housing. This blog is the second in a series of three blogs that take a deeper dive into each of these components.

This blog post takes a deeper dive into the findings from the second component: homelessness. It also shares examples of practices that could be implemented locally and nationally to address homelessness.