Could a Raleigh Pilot Program Hold the Key to Ending Homelessness in the City?

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Good morning, readers.

Earlier this year, officials decommissioned an encampment for unsheltered residents located on Goode Street on the Dorothea Dix Park property. But unlike in the past when camps were closed and people displaced, many of those sheltering at this encampment would have a place to go thanks to a new pilot program that could hold the key to ending homelessness in Raleigh. 

On Tuesday, city council members heard about the early successes of a pilot called Bringing Neighbors Home. After launching in May, city officials assembled a team of specialists that would conduct outreach and provide case management services to unsheltered residents. Once the residents were engaged, volunteers would help them find housing, provide case management services, and pay them $1,450 each month for the next year to use however they’d like. 

So far, 45 households, including individuals and two families with children, are participating in the pilot and all have found apartments or are on their way to. The pilot, modeled after similar programs in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, and Oklahoma City, works because it addresses the root cause of homelessness, according to Raleigh Housing and Neighborhoods department director Emila Sutton: that is, a fundamental lack of affordable housing. 

“The approach demonstrated through the pilot would get Raleigh to what we call functional zero for unsheltered homelessness, which means that homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring,” Sutton told the council. “Instead of just displacing people, we are providing real-solutions housing, first and foremost, with the right supports in place.”

Have a good Thursday.

 —Jane

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