Last year, the Building Bridges Blog launched a new, monthly data update: the Housing & Homelessness Continuum Data Update, which is intended to be part of our continuous improvement program. The Housing & Homelessness Continuum (HHC) will progress the community from a focus on the Point-in-Time Count, One Number and other disparate data sources to reliance on a more comprehensive and inclusive data set that reflects the full continuum from housing instability to homelessness. The One Number is a monthly census that includes sheltered and a portion of unsheltered homelessness. The One Number has also been subject to continuous improvement methodologies. However, even with the advances made to enumerating homelessness using the One Number, there are still many households who experience housing instability and homelessness and who are not captured in the data inputs. It is critical to identify the households “in the gap” to both understand the full need for services, and to construct effective solutions to address these needs. This approach is also called out as a need in the A Home for All Strategic Framework: identifying and closing the remaining gaps in data collection and reporting across the full housing continuum. To that end, this week’s blog will provide the latest updates regarding both housing instability and homelessness for the data sources we currently have; and highlight the areas in which gaps exist as well as the work underway to address those gaps. Finally, the blog will share what the latest trends show, and what all of this could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Released last month, A Home for All: Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Strategy to End and Prevent Homelessness – Part 1: Strategic Framework reflects the community’s work during the past year to develop a comprehensive, transformative strategy to address both housing instability and homelessness. As the first document to be released from this effort, the Strategic Framework provides the roadmap for the work ahead. The framework serves to outline the vision and the major objectives across each of the following nine areas: prevention; shelter; affordable housing; cross-sector supports; policy; funding; data; communications; and long-term strategy. While any one area of impact and intervention can help chip away at the gaps, the real work must be done on the sum rather than the parts. At the same time, it is essential that we understand each individual part so that we can best position them to complement each other and function effectively as a system. This week’s blog is the third in a new series that seeks to unpack each of the four impact areas in the Strategic Framework aimed at addressing a part of the housing continuum: prevention; temporary housing; affordable housing; and cross-sector supports. This blog is focused on affordable housing, covering what it is, why it is important, what the recommendations in the Strategic Framework entail, and ultimately, what all of this could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Released last month, A Home for All: Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Strategy to End and Prevent Homelessness – Part 1: Strategic Framework reflects the community’s work during the past year to develop a comprehensive, transformative strategy to address both housing instability and homelessness. As the first document to be released from this effort, the Strategic Framework provides the roadmap for the work ahead. The framework serves to outline the vision and the major objectives across each of the following nine areas: prevention; shelter; affordable housing; cross-sector supports; policy; funding; data; communications; and long-term strategy. While any one area of impact and intervention can help chip away at the gaps, the real work must be done on the sum rather than the parts. At the same time, it is essential that we understand each individual part so that we can best position them to complement each other and function effectively as a system. This week’s blog is the second in a new series that seeks to unpack each of the four impact areas in the Strategic Framework aimed at addressing a part of the housing problem: prevention; temporary housing; affordable housing; and cross-sector supports. This blog, which is focused on temporary housing, covers what temporary housing is (and isn’t), why it is important, what the recommendations in the Strategic Framework entail, and ultimately, what all of this could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Last week, A Home for All: Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Strategy to End and Prevent Homelessness – Part 1: Strategic Framework was released. The Strategic Framework reflects the community’s work during the past year to develop a comprehensive, transformative strategy to address both housing instability and homelessness. As the first document to be released from this effort, the Strategic Framework provides the roadmap for the work ahead; serving to outline the vision and the major objectives across each of the following nine areas: prevention; shelter; affordable housing; cross-sector supports; policy; funding; data; communications; and long-term strategy. The Strategic Framework is only one part of the overall strategy, but perhaps the most important. This is why 9 workstreams held standing meetings, and over 250 individuals in the community were engaged directly. A framework explains what we are doing, how we expect to do it, and how we will know if we did what we said we would. It took a year to develop, but all of that time was needed in order to meet the goal of ending and preventing homelessness and ensuring that everyone has access to affordable housing and the resources to sustain it. Addressing the interrelated problems of housing instability and homelessness requires a comprehensive and coordinated approach, with a focus on changing systems and structures. While each individual area of impact and intervention can help chip away at the gaps, the real work must be done on the sum, rather than the parts. At the same time, it is essential that we understand each individual part so that we can know how to best position them to complement each other and function effectively as a system. Therefore, the purpose of this new blog series is to unpack each of the four impact areas in the Strategic Framework aimed at addressing a part of the housing problem: prevention, shelter, affordable housing and cross-sector supports. This week’s blog is focused on the area of prevention, including what it is, why it is important, what the recommendations in the Strategic Framework entail, and ultimately, what all of this could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
I am excited to share, today, the release of A Home for All: Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s Strategy to End and Prevent Homelessness – Part 1: Strategic Framework. This document represents the culmination of our community’s work to develop a comprehensive, transformative strategy to address both housing instability and homelessness. Cathy Bessant, Vice Chair of Global Strategy at Bank of America; and Eugene Woods, President and CEO of Atrium Health, served as the co-chairs of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Strategy (CMHHS), which is the body that produced this framework. Launched almost one year ago, CMHHS is truly a community-wide effort. CMHHS incorporated representation from across the public and private sectors to develop a strategy that ensures that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in Charlotte-Mecklenburg; a strategy that is focused on providing every person access to permanent, affordable housing and the resources to sustain their housing. This is our collective vision. With the release of the framework today, we aim to make it our reality. This brief provides highlights from the new framework and outlines next steps, including opportunities for continued engagement in the months ahead, and ultimately, the potential for permanent, positive change in Mecklenburg County.
Each year, during the final Wednesday of January, Charlotte-Mecklenburg conducts an annual Point-in-Time Count. This action is intended to capture the number of people experiencing “literal homelessness” in the community. “Literal homelessness” is defined as residing overnight in an emergency shelter; safe haven; transitional housing facility; or in an unsheltered location unfit for human habitation. The 2022 Point-in-Time Count will spotlight the issue of youth homelessness. The Youth Advisory Board (YAB), which is supported by The Relatives and comprised of youth with lived experience of homelessness will conduct a youth-led initiative coined “Reach One, Teach One”. Reach One, Teach One aims to give a voice to youth experiencing homelessness – a population that is often hesitant to share their housing status and experiences homelessness in ways that differ from the traditional perception of sleeping on the street. This week’s blog shares insight from a representative of the YAB, Dajhun Mack, 22, and ultimately, what this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Mecklenburg County Community Support Services first released the “One Number” in 2019 as part of the annual Charlotte-Mecklenburg State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report. Since that initial release, the One Number has become the “go-to” number for the count of people who are experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
The One Number is generated from a By-Name List within the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). It captures the number of people enrolled in Emergency Shelter (ES); Transitional Housing (TH); Street Outreach (SO); Permanent Housing (PH) (if there is no move-in date to housing yet); and Coordinated Entry (CE) programs in HMIS. The One Number includes both total sheltered homelessness and a portion of the individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. In addition, the One Number can be broken down by both household composition and population type; elements include single individuals, families, unaccompanied youth, veterans, and people experiencing chronic homelessness. The Housing Data Snapshot highlights inflow to (Newly identified, Returns from Permanent Housing, Returns for Inactivity) and outflow from (Exit to Permanent Housing, Exit to Inactivity), homelessness. By comparing One Number data over time (including by household composition or by inflow/outflow), the community can identify trends. Once identified, these trends can then inform policy, programming, and funding decisions. This week’s blog post provides the most recent One Number policy and data updates; the latest analysis; and what this means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
During 2021, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Housing & Homelessness Dashboard published 49 blog posts covering an array of topics, including new system-focused efforts in the community to address homelessness; combatting myths and misconceptions that stall progress; new report releases (and what they mean for the community); and local data and trends information. Throughout the year, more than 21,400 individuals accessed the Dashboard; this was nearly double the amount from the year prior. There were over 56,000 pageviews as a result. In case you missed any of it, this first blog post of 2022 is dedicated to the top ten posts (as measured by discrete views) from 2021. Below are summaries; links to the “top ten” posts; and the “so, what” for Charlotte-Mecklenburg to consider as we forge ahead into 2022.
Today, December 21, marks the first day of winter. At about 11am today, the Winter Solstice will occur with the Sun reaching its highest position in the sky. This means for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, tonight will be the longest night of the year. For the last thirty years, December 21 has also been recognized as the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, when communities remember each of the individuals who have died while experiencing homelessness in the year that is drawing to a close. Remembering the issue of homelessness, and more specifically, where people experiencing homelessness will sleep on this long, dark night, provides a somber reminder about the sheer lack of affordable housing for everyone. Although the day itself will be darker than any other, the significance of today need not be consumed by the darkness. The term “solstice” is derived from the Latin words “sol,” which means “the sun,” and “sistere” which means “to make stand.” Literally, this is translated as “the sun stands still.” The winter solstice becomes a time to make use of the sun’s “standing energy,” taking stock of what has transpired and contemplating new beginnings. Winter solstice rituals and celebrations have been taking place for over 12,000 years. In fact, some cultures believed this day to be the sun’s literal “rebirth.” To commemorate this year’s winter solstice and the opportunity for new rays of hope to shine in 2022, this week’s blog post will spotlight three examples from other communities who are trying different approaches to address housing instability and homelessness; and ultimately, what this could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
Each year, during the final Wednesday of January, Charlotte-Mecklenburg conducts an annual Point-in-Time Count. This action is intended to capture the number of people experiencing “literal homelessness” in the community. “Literal homelessness” is defined as residing overnight in an emergency shelter; safe haven; transitional housing facility; or in an unsheltered location unfit for human habitation. The Point-in-Time (or PIT) Count and its complementary activities, such as the Housing Inventory Count (or HIC) are mandated by the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These are required annually of communities (like Charlotte-Mecklenburg) who receive federal funding to prevent and end homelessness. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg PIT & HIC numbers are submitted each year to HUD. This data is combined with the results from other communities across the United States and then reported in the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The AHAR is submitted to the U.S. Congress to inform funding and policies to prevent and end homelessness. Communities can also use their PIT & HIC data to inform local funding and policy priorities. In response to COVID-19, communities have had to make adjustments in the conduct of the Point-in-Time Count. To help communities in their planning efforts, HUD has provided guidance to, and options for, communities to complete PIT counts safely and accurately. This blog post will provide an overview of the PIT and HIC, including updates for the 2022 PIT and HIC; ways that individuals can meaningfully support the work, even during a health crisis; and how the PIT and HIC can be used to support efforts to address housing instability and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
