At the start of the pandemic, the federal government made significant investment in Eviction Prevention programming. Similarly, Hamilton County earmarked a portion of the COVID stimulus funds it received for Shelter Diversion.
With these investments, homelessness declined in Hamilton County from 2020 to 2022. Last year, some of these investments began to expire.
Fewer people provided with such preventative services at a time when housing costs continue to rise equals more people experiencing homelessness.
As a result, we saw a 2% increase in overall homelessness. And a 46% increase in people sleeping unsheltered.
Our President & CEO Kevin Finn talked with Lucy May for Cincinnati Edition on 91-7 WVXU. The hour was dedicated to the topic.
And it’s not unique to our region. Recent studies have shown that people across all income levels — across the Country — have been affected by rising rents. That means Americans are handing over a bigger portion of their paychecks to housing costs.
Our Cincinnati/Hamilton County Continuum of Care was one of the first in the country to establish a shared database used by all of our local homeless programs.
Strategies to End Homelessness is the lead agency for our local Homeless Management Information System. This gives us immediate access to data to track program outcomes in real time and improve underperforming programs.
And take a deep dive into what the data is telling us. We will be releasing a full report, soon.
If you see someone sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation, please tell us. Download our Street Reach app for Android or iPhone and send a report.
All we need is a general description of the person/persons and a location and we’ll send a trained Street Outreach worker to help them start their journey back to stable housing.
