Charlotte-Mecklenburg Reduces Veteran Homelessness by 29%

In 2018, Mecklenburg County partnered with Community Solutions, Built for Zero, to intentionally work toward ending veteran homelessness in Mecklenburg County. Since then, there has been almost a 50% reduction in veteran homelessness with a 29% reduction in the past year.

This week’s blog post provides a deep dive into the most recent One Number update with a focus on veteran homelessness and an overview of what is being done to prevent and end homelessness for veterans in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

VETERAN HOMELESSNESS

The Housing Data Snapshot is the hub for the latest data related to housing and homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. It provides an overall count and demographics of homelessness by household type and subpopulation and highlights inflow to (Newly identified, Returns from Permanent Housing, Returns for Inactivity) and outflow from (Exit to Permanent Housing, Exit to Inactivity), homelessness.

Each month the One Number update provides data on veterans experiencing homelessness. The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines a veteran as someone who has served in the United States Armed Forces regardless of their length of services or discharge status.

VETERAN ONE NUMBER DATA

As of September 30, 2024, there are 162 veterans experiencing homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. This total includes 5 households with minor children, 5 multiple adult households, and 152 single adults. Of these 162 veterans, 43 individuals meet the criteria for chronic homelessness which means they have a disability and have been homeless for one year continuously or 4 times in the past 3 years totaling 12 months.

Inflow/Outflow

During September 2024, 24 veterans entered the homeless services system including 12 new veterans. A veteran is considered “new” if they have not touched the HMIS system in the past 24 months. Ten veterans returned from inactive status (which means they were previously exited from our community by name list due to no contact for 30 days and are now re-entering the system) and 2 veterans returned to homelessness after previously exiting the homeless services system to a permanently housed situation. A total of 20 veterans were housed during September 2024. Together these 20 veterans had a median length of time homeless of 560 days.

Veteran Characteristics

• Of the 162 veterans experiencing homelessness as of September 30, 2024, 91% identified as man only, 8% identified as women only, and 1% preferred not to share their gender identity.
• Sixty-nine percent identified as Black, African American, or African only, 19% identified as White only, 4% identified as multi-racial, and 2% identified as Hispanic/Latin(a)(e)(o) only.
• Sixty-five percent of veterans self-reported a disability with 31% reporting a chronic health condition, 4% reporting a developmental disability, 41% reporting a mental health disorder, 35% reporting a physical disability, and 17% reporting an alcohol or drug use disorder or both.
• Nine percent of veterans reported being survivors of domestic violence, and 2% reported that they are currently fleeing a domestic violence situation.
• Veterans most frequently reported entering the homeless services system from a place not meant for habitation (51%), from staying with friends or family (12%), and from being self-pay or doubled up in a hotel or motel (6%).
• Thirty-two percent of veterans reported having no income.

ENDING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS

Since 2018, Mecklenburg County has been collaborating with local partners and Community Solutions, Built for Zero in the work to prevent and end homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. The journey began by ensuring that the community had a quality by-name list of every veteran experiencing homelessness in Mecklenburg County. Once the community had a by-name list, they not only had a baseline from which to measure progress, but they also had a by-name list of veterans to engage, case conference, and support in their efforts to exit homelessness. In January 2019, the community had 318 veterans experiencing homelessness. As of September 30, 2024, that number is down to 162, an almost 50% reduction from January 2019 and a 29% reduction from September 2023.

These successes would not have been possible without strong collaboration, financial investment, and goal alignment. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Continuum of Care Housing Our Heroes Workgroup brings together partners such as the Veterans Administration Health Care for Homeless Veterans Program, as well as Mecklenburg County’s Veteran Services Office, local Supportive Services for Veteran Families providers: Veteran Services of the Carolinas and Catholic Charities, Veterans Bridge Home, other private and non-profit partners, and individuals interested in the work. This group of diverse stakeholders focus on developing strategy and system improvement projects to better serve veterans at-risk of or experiencing homelessness in our community. In addition, the group has developed a resource guide which provides guidance to veterans and services providers on key resources for veterans experiencing homelessness and housing instability.

Community Solutions, Built for Zero has invested a significant amount of resources in this work including ongoing technical assistance via a dedicated community System Improvement Advisor, providing flexible funds to prevent veterans from entering homelessness and assist in their rapid exit from homelessness (a program that was later scaled with local ARPA funds), investment in a local staff position to coordinate the local work on ending veteran homelessness, and most recently, purchasing a 216 unit apartment building, Park at Ferentino, and dedicating half of the units to veterans exiting homelessness. Since the property opened under new management, it has helped over 36 veterans exit homelessness.

Finally, this work has been successful because there is alignment in goals with local and federal partners. For the past two years, the Veterans Administration has set lofty goals to permanently house 40,000+ veterans, engage unsheltered veterans, and prevent returns to homelessness. The Salisbury VA has successfully met their benchmarks both years and the VA’s partnership with the CoC and community non-profits has strongly impacted this work. When we are all working toward the same goal, we can make great progress.