Entries by Mary Ann Priester

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Research and News Roundup: March 2024

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 the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s assessment of rental housing availability both locally and nationally, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies 2024 America Rental Housing report which provides analysis and insights into the state of the rental housing market in the United States, and findings from the Los Angeles County Women’s Needs Assessment.

April 4, 2024 by
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One Number Update: February 2024

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.

March 28, 2024 by
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HUD’s Equal Access Assessment Tool and Why it’s Important

On March 8th, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the updated, web-based, Equal Access Assessment Tool (EAAT). The EAAT can play a crucial role in promoting accountability, identifying areas for improvement, and supporting organizations in their efforts to provide inclusive and equitable services to individuals accessing shelter and services in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

This blog provides an overview of the tool, what it assesses, and why it’s important.

March 20, 2024 by
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HUD System Performance Measures: Successful Placement in or Retention of Permanent Housing

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 .

March 13, 2024 by

Research and News Roundup: February 2024

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 cost-driven moves on children’s access to safety net services; an analysis of homeless rates in major cities; and the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve housing affordability.

March 2, 2024 by
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2023 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report Deep Dive: Stable Housing

In December 2023, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report, a comprehensive analysis of current data on housing instability and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This report is a crucial tool for ensuring well-informed policy decisions, optimizing resource distribution, and enhancing systems of care. The report delves into three pivotal aspects of the housing continuum—housing instability, homelessness, and stable housing. This is the final blog in a series that has taken a deeper dive into these three aspects of the housing continuum.

This final blog post examines the findings from the third housing continuum component: stable housing. It spotlights key findings related to stable housing and shares information about North Carolina’s forthcoming participation in the Housing and Services Partnership Accelerator  and the promising practice of establishing community land trusts to increase access and availability of stable housing.

February 21, 2024 by
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2023 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report Deep Dive: Homelessness

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. 

February 15, 2024 by
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A Home For All: Emergency Response Pillar

In August, United Way of Greater Charlotte (United Way) released the A Home For All Implementation Plan. Building on the priorities identified in the Strategic Framework, the Implementation Plan outlines which priorities to advance first in order to address housing instability and homelessness across the Charlotte-Mecklenburg region. We recently posted a series of blogs examining the initial three pillars of the A Home For All Implementation Plan: People, Prevention, and Production. We have since added a fourth pillar, responding to growing concern about the need to support those experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

This blog provides an overview of the Emergency Response pillar.

February 8, 2024 by
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2023 State of Housing Instability and Homelessness Report Deep Dive: Housing Instability

On December 7, 2023 Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report. The annual SoHIH continues to provide a single dedicated synthesis of the most recent data on housing instability and
homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. It provides a knowledge base from which to make informed policy and practice decisions
to facilitate optimized resource allocation and systems of care. The report explores three key components of the housing continuum: housing instability, homelessness, and stable housing. This blog is the first in a series of three blogs will take a deeper dive into each of these components.

This blog post takes a deeper dive into the findings from the first theme: housing instability. It also shares examples of policies and practices that could be implemented locally and nationally to address housing instability. 

January 30, 2024 by