Entries by Mary Ann Priester

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
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Imagine A County Where No One Has to Sleep Outside

Over the past two days, 28 CMPD officers and 35 teams of over 200 community volunteers came together to ensure #EverybodyCountsCLT. Together these dedicated community members facilitated a successful 2024 Point in Time Count by providing logistical support and conducting surveys with people experiencing unsheltered homelessness across Mecklenburg County. Point in Time Count co-leads, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services and Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition would like to express their sincere gratitude to each person experiencing homelessness who completed the survey and all who engaged in the planning, volunteered their time, provided supplies and financial donations, or raised awareness for this year’s event. The work does not stop here.

This blog provides an overview of the Count, what’s next, and how you can stay involved throughout the year.

January 25, 2024 by
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A Home For All: 2023 Reflections and Look Ahead

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 area. We recently posted a series of blogs examining the initial three pillars of the A Home For All Implementation Plan: People, Prevention, and Production. A fourth pillar has been added as there is an increasing need for supports related to people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. We will take a deep dive into the Emergency Response pillar next month.

This blog provides reflections on the work of the implementation teams, specifically critical home repair (Prevention pillar) and the People pillar, and a look ahead.

January 17, 2024 by
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Property in Charlotte Dedicates Units to Veterans Exiting Homelessness

The Charlotte homeless response team partnered with Community Solutions to purchase Park at Ferentino, a 216-unit apartment building. Half of the units will be dedicated to veterans exiting homelessness, while the other half will be leased as affordable homes. This resource will help the Charlotte-Mecklenburg homeless response team make progress toward solving veteran homelessness while preserving existing affordable housing.

This blog provides an overview of the project and the anticipated impact for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

January 9, 2024 by
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2023 in Review: “Top Five” List for Learning More About Housing Instability and Homelessness

Each year, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services (CSS) releases an annual report series on housing instability and homelessness. The report series consists of two primary research products. The first, an integrated data report, is produced by the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. These reports link cross-system data sources to explore  housing instability and/or homelessness through an intersectional lens. In May, CSS released an integrated data report describing the rate and characteristics of people experiencing homelessness before and after incarceration by combining data from the Homeless Management Information System and the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office.  An upcoming integrated data report will use combined information sources to describe risk factors for homelessness among foster care involved youth.

The second major output in the series is the annual Charlotte-Mecklenburg State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report. This report 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. It provides a single resource for all housing and homelessness-related data and information pertaining to Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The 2023 Report featured new data sources, and was released in early December.

In addition to the locally produced housing instability and homelessness outputs described above, several other housing-related reports have been released during the past year. A previous blog post providing a “top five” reading list for Summer 2020. This blog post will update that list and provide you with a 2023 “top five” reading list, including a brief overview of each report, why you should read it, and what each means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

December 21, 2023 by