Contact: Adam Gibbs • agibbs@cmtysolutions.org • 202.810.3511 Zero: 2016 Helping a Committed Group of U.S. Communities End Veteran and Chronic Homelessness by December 31, 2016 The 100,000 Homes Campaign generated huge momentum in the fight to end homelessness, but while greatly decreased, chronic and veteran homelessness continue to plague our nation’s streets. Chronic and veteran homelessness in America are fiscal and public health emergencies, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths each year while imposing a huge financial strain on public systems. To solve these problems, Community Solutions is partnering with communities from across the country to help them adopt proven, lasting and cost effective solutions to addressing homelessness. Overview of Zero: 2016 ● Rigorous followon to the 100,000 Homes Campaign ● Designed to help a committed group of U.S. communities end chronic and veteran homelessness by the end of 2016 ● Developed and led by Community Solutions, the New Yorkbased, internationally recognized nonprofit that led the 100,000 Homes Campaign The Challenge ● Work intensively with member communities to end (reach functional zero) veteran homelessness by December 31, 2015 and chronic homelessness by December 31, 2016. ○ Functional zero is reached when, at any point in time, the number of people (veterans or chronic) experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness will be no greater than the current monthly housing placement rate for that population (veterans or chronic). Our Goals ● Help participating communities end chronic and veteran homelessness in the next two years ● Create a tipping point to guide ALL communities to end chronic and veteran homelessness ● Streamline and standardize the housing process by integrating best practices and enhanced tools to minimize the roadblocks in providing housing to all people experiencing homelessness Our Method ● Build a national platform for innovation, knowledge capture and crossteam sharing ● Engage leadership from government, private and philanthropic sectors in securing new resources for communities ● Provide intensive coaching to help participating communities: www.cmtysolutions.org ○ Create a constantly updated, byname list of each person experiencing homelessness within a community in order to quickly and efficiently connect them with the best housing option to fit each individual’s needs. ■ It is no longer enough to count your homeless neighbors anonymously every two years. To be sure you are housing the most vulnerable residents within your community, you need to know exactly who they are in real time and begin rapidly and methodically housing them one by one. ○ Track and measure monthly housing rates against clear, targeted goals ○ Adopt proven best practices, such as housing first, to deploy existing resources more efficiently ○ Better coordinate local housing systems so that all people experiencing homeless are assessed and matched to available housing through a consistent, centralized, evidencebased process ○ Implement transparent data and performance management for realtime improvement and multiagency cooperation The Facts ● Nationally, there are roughly 85,000 chronically homeless individuals and 50,000 homeless veterans. 2014 According to the 2014 Point in Time count, 31,669 of these chronically homeless individuals and 16,218 of these homeless veterans live in communities participating in Zero: 2016. ● People experiencing homelessness are three times more likely to die than the general population across all age groups and often die from illnesses that can be treated or prevented. Stable housing removes people from these dangers and puts them in a better position to benefit voluntarily from needed services such as preventative health care. ● Providing Permanent Supportive Housing for the chronically homeless is far less expensive than leaving them on the streets, even after factoring in the supportive services that help them stay housed. ○ A study commissioned by Community Solutions after the 100,000 Homes Campaign found that on average, the federal government saves $13,000/year per person housed by reducing costs such as emergency health care, emergency mental care and jail. www.cmtysolutions.org