Dealing with chronic homelessness across the globe requites strong, viable partnerships. We found the following on the website of the International Downtown Association: Solving chronic homelessness Michael J. Smith, Chair, IDA and President & CEO, Charlotte Center City Partners Solving chronic homelessness is a national and international issue that we should be looking to address collectively. Most of us are dealing with a persistent number of chronically homeless sleeping on streets, on benches and in parks. Each city, BID and BIA has a unique approach, with solutions from which we can all learn. In Charlotte, North Carolina, we are working with a wide-ranging group of stakeholders that includes private, public, not for profit companies, homeless service agencies, our housing association, mental health professionals, health care agencies and the police. In this community, we have formed a task force that has set a bold initiative to house our chronically homeless in 24 months through intensive outreach and supportive housing solutions including a combination of scattered and single site housing. This effort has great alignment to the highly effective housing first philosophy and some of the new related HUD funding sources that are coming available. In addition, Charlotte will take advantage of municipal housing bonds to build new single site housing for the chronically homeless. Also, we will raise private funds through foundations, houses of worship and corporate philanthropy to support scattered sites supportive housing models. This plan aligns with national initiatives such as Zero: 2016 to house the chronically homeless and the Mayors Challenge to house all veterans. The chronically homeless represent about 10 percent of the homeless population across the U.S., but consume about 50 percent of the resources. If we address this, it will not only be the action of a compassionate community, but also, it will create capacity to provide for other homeless citizens in our communities.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 08:31:54 +0000
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