Describing Homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg: The Numbers and What They Mean

Courtney Morton

Housing & Homelessness Research Coordinator
Mecklenburg County Community Support Services
Mary Ann Priester

HMIS Administrator
Mecklenburg County Community Support Services. As with all Continuums of Care (CoC) across the country, Charlotte-Mecklenburg recently submitted our 2019 Point-in-Time Count and Housing Inventory Count data to the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). HUD reviews all CoC submissions and, once the data is finalized, reports it to the U.S. Congress through publication of the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR). Charlotte-Mecklenburg combines the HUD-mandated Point-in-Time Count data with other housing and homelessness information in a locally-generated annual report. The State of Housing Instability and Homelessness, released in the summer, shares the metrics which have been identified by stakeholders in Charlotte-Mecklenburg as most relevant to the work to end and prevent homelessness.

This blog post will cover some of the key numbers that are used to describe homelessness, what the numbers mean, and why they matter. In addition, this post will introduce a new number that will be included in this year’s report.

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A New Approach to Affordable Housing: The Lotus Campaign, Part 3

The Lotus Campaign, which uses a market-based approach to address homelessness and housing affordability, launched in late July 2018.  The Lotus Campaign began with pilot projects in Charlotte, North Carolina.This is the third of three blog posts about their efforts.   To read more about how the Lotus Campaign got started, click here for the first blog post; click here to read the second blog post explaining how the model works. This final post in the series describes the impact Lotus has had over the past nine months.

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Creating a Comprehensive Community Inventory of Affordable Housing

The March 2019 blog post Aligning Efforts on Affordable Housing and Homelessness called for the alignment of housing efforts and goals backed by data. An active inventory of all affordable rental units is described as a critical component for this work. A comprehensive community inventory would help highlight housing gaps, set goals and provide a “go-to” database of housing opportunities in times of crisis (such as displacement due to natural disaster). Such an inventory does exist.

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A New Approach to Affordable Housing: The Lotus Campaign, Part 2

This blog post is the second in a three-part series about the Lotus Campaign, which uses a market-based approach to address homelessness and housing affordability.

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First Ever Assessment Released On Emergency Shelter In Charlotte-Mecklenburg

This week, “The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Emergency Shelter System: Assessment of Capacity and Utilization” was released, providing the community with a comprehensive look at the overall emergency shelter system. The assessment was completed by Mecklenburg County Community Support Services in partnership with United Way of Central Carolinas.This blog post will provide an overview of the assessment, its key points, the context behind it and what the assessment can mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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A New Approach To Affordable Housing: The Lotus Campaign

The Lotus Campaign (Lotus) was launched in late July 2018.  Lotus has as its goal increasing the availability of housing for people experiencing homelessness by engaging the private, for-profit real estate and investment communities.  Lotus’ market-based approach has three components: incent, invest and advise. This blog post is the first in a three-part series about the Lotus Campaign and this affordable housing approach driven by private philanthropy and the desire to give back.

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Aligning Efforts on Affordable Housing & Homelessness, Part 3

This post is the final in a three-part series that will provide an overview of the strategies presented in the February 2019 report: Aligning Affordable Housing Efforts with Actions to End Homelessness by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). The report calls for action alignment across these areas.This blog post will provide an overview and analysis of the last three strategies as well as what it means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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Aligning Efforts on Affordable Housing & Homelessness, Part 2

This post is the second in a three-part series that will provide an overview of the strategies presented in the February 2019 report: Aligning Affordable Housing Efforts with Actions to End Homelessness by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). The report calls for action alignment across these areas.This blog post will provide an overview and analysis of the middle three strategies as well as what it means for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

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Aligning Efforts on Affordable Housing & Homelessness

The solutions for ending and preventing homelessness and reducing housing instability are the same: permanent, affordable housing. Importantly, failure to address one area impacts the other: if enough affordable housing is not available, shelters cannot clear out beds for people who need them. People facing housing instability who then lose their housing have nowhere to go; families often must separate to find temporary shelter. Therefore, it makes sense that efforts focusing on homelessness, housing instability and affordable housing work together in order to maximize results. This post is the first of a three-part series that will provide an overview of the strategies as well as how they might apply within our local context.

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New Data & Monthly Data Snapshot on Community Progress

The snapshot provides the latest update on the work to end and prevent chronic and veteran homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This update reflects the progress on the coordinated, community effort to address both chronic and veteran homelessness.

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