Strategies to End Homelessness leads the Homeless to Homes Plan which is the community’s coordinated response to homelessness among single adults. The Hamilton County Indigent Care Levy funds the Plan.
In 2008, more than 90 key stakeholders representing the top leadership of City and County government, service providers, funders, the faith community, and the business community convened. Their goal was to collaborate on designing an improved system of care for the homeless. The result was the Homeless to Homes plan, adopted by the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners and Cincinnati City Council in 2009.
The plan provides a comprehensive framework focusing on: client’s dignity and quality of life; providing a high level of service; achieving better outcomes for each individual; services that meet the unique needs of individuals; and a higher level of systemic coordination.
The Homeless to Homes Plan Shelter Collaborative
The Homeless to Homes Shelter Collaborative includes City Gospel Mission, Lighthouse Youth & Family Services, Shelterhouse, and Talbert House, and led by Strategies to End Homelessness. The first phase of the plan, accomplished in 2015, was to build five new shelter facilities. Ongoing each of the five new facilities provide day-time services and healthcare for individuals staying in shelter.
Shelter Facilities
City Gospel Mission Shelter: this 64-bed faith-based emergency shelter is for men. Additionally it includes an onsite agency partner, Modern Psychiatry and Wellness providing services for men struggling with addiction and mental health issues. Services include detox, IOP, individual and group counseling, access to a nurse and a nurse practitioner.
Sheakley Center for Youth: operated by Lighthouse, this 36-bed shelter is for young men and women aged 18-24. The Center has health care professionals on site to help residents with medication management, health education, first aid, connection to resources, and therapeutic one-on-one support during times of stress.
David and Rebecca Barron Center for Men: operated by Shelterhouse, this 150-bed facility for men (which also offers expanded winter capacity for both men and women) includes a state-of-the-art medical facility within the shelter. The clinic is fully staffed five days a week with a nurse practitioner and medical doctor. Also, Shelterhouse also offers recovery services and mental health services.
Hatton Center for Women
Esther Marie Hatton Center for Women: operated by Shelterhouse, this 75-bed facility for women offers a fully functioning medical clinic, meeting the specific needs of women. Special attention given to women who present in the clinic and are pregnant. In addition, Shelterhouse also offers recovery services and mental health services.
Parkway Center: operated by Talbert House, this 51-bed facility provides transitional housing for homeless men and women. And it offers substance use treatment and case management. Also mental health and substance use disorder treatment providers and a nurse practitioner are on site regularly.
Integral Community Partners
NeighborHub Health (formerly Cincinnati Health Network): a community-based partnership providing services to homeless individuals from a single building located at in Over-the-Rhine. Services available at this site include primary medical, dental, and behavioral health.
Cincy Smiles, Inc.: operates the McMicken Dental Clinic, a freestanding and fully-operational state-of-the-art dental clinic. The patients at the clinic can have all their dental needs met, leading to better overall health.
Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services: on-site in shelters as well as stand-along service sites, provides diagnostic assessments and on-going counseling and mental health care.
2023 Data
In 2023, the Homeless to Homes Shelters served 3,547 people, a 2.8% increase. Of those people, 72% identify as male, 26% identify as female, 0.4% as non-binary, and 0.6% identify as transgender. We know that African Americans continue to be disproportionally represented in our local shelter resident population (read our Racial Justice Statement), with 57% identifying as African American/Black, 36% identifying as white, 0.73% identifying as Hispanic/Latina/e/o, 0.54% identifying as Asian or Asian American, .04% identifying as American Indian, Alaska Native, Indigenous, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander, and the remaining 5% identifying as multi-racial.
Additionally, the Homeless to Homes plan tracks three key outcomes:
- In 2023, 53% of shelter residents increased their household income. This increased significantly from 2022’s 21%. This is due to the shelters implementing a new program. SOAR Workers were placed directly in the shelters in order to assist with applying for benefits. SOAR stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, and Recovery. Having the SOAR Workers in the shelters has decreased the amount of time it takes to apply for benefits by half.
- 67% of shelter residents exited to positive housing outcomes – either stable housing in the community or a housing program designed to stabilize people who experienced homelessness.
- And in 2023, 81% of people maintained housing stability for at least one year. Meaning that they did not return to homelessness a year after exiting.
Thank you
Finally, thank you to the Commissioners and residents of Hamilton County for renewing the Indigent Care Levy in November 2022. Thereby sustaining the Homeless to Homes Plan for another five years. And giving housing stability to thousands of Hamilton County residents.
