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. 

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.

Today, December 7, 2023, Mecklenburg County Community Support Services  released the 2023 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness (SoHIH) Report. The annual SoHIH report synthesizes local, regional, and national data on the full housing continuum. It provides a knowledge base that Charlotte-Mecklenburg uses to make informed policy, practice, and funding decisions to facilitate optimized resource allocation and systems of care.

This blog post outlines the key findings from the 2023 SoHIH and what it could mean for Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

This blog is the first of a monthly blog series that will feature a curated list of recent news and research related to housing instability, homelessness, and affordable housing. Together, these topics provide insights on the full housing continuum and are intended to keep community stakeholders informed about emergent research, promising practices, and innovative solutions related to housing instability and homelessness.
This month’s Research and News Roundup features an innovative approach to using utility payments to predict first-time homelessness; opportunities and resources to increase affordable housing by converting commercial properties; and proposed expansion of the Healthy Opportunities Pilot, a first of its kind program that provides non-medical interventions that address housing instability and other social determinants of health (SDOH) to Medicaid participants.