BLOOMINGTON, IN / ACCESSWIRE / September 17, 2024 / Today, Community Solutions announced that South Central Indiana, a six-county region including the city of Bloomington, became the sixth community nationwide to obtain real-time by-name data on all single adults experiencing homelessness.

'Homelessness is not intractable. Understanding who is actually experiencing homelessness lays the foundation for solving it,' said Beth Sandor, chief program officer at Community Solutions. 'Leaders in South Central Indiana are now equipped with the real-time data necessary to connect people with the precise resources, support, and housing they need.'

Most communities rely on the annual Point-in-Time Count, which only tallies the number of sheltered and unsheltered people once a year. Quality by-name data is a comprehensive source of information on every person experiencing homelessness, including their name, history with homelessness, and health and housing needs. Outreach teams and case managers collect the data with consent and update it monthly.

Unlike the annual Point-in-Time count, real-time data allows cities to evaluate whether their strategies reduce homelessness over time. It also enables communities to prioritize resources and monitor whether homelessness reductions are racially equitable.

South Central Indiana reached this milestone through participating in Built for Zero, an initiative of more than 100 U.S. cities and counties using data to measurably and equitably end homelessness. Next, the South Central Indiana team will focus on reducing veteran homelessness in the area.

Five other Built for Zero communities -- Fairfax County, Va., Washoe County, Nev., Missoula, Mont., St. Louis, Mo., and Thurston County, Wash. -- have secured by-name data for all single adults. More than 65 Built for Zero communities have achieved quality by-name data for at least one homeless population.

'We knew that we needed all hands on deck to pull together comprehensive data on our neighbors experiencing homelessness,' said Mary Morgan, director of Heading Home of South Central Indiana. 'That coordinated effort made all the difference. Now, we can take a solutions-oriented approach to solving homelessness in our region.'

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About Community Solutions

Community Solutions is a nonprofit committed to making homelessness rare and brief. It leads Built for Zero, a network of more than 100 U.S. communities using a data-driven methodology to improve local housing and homelessness response systems and the impact they can achieve. To date, 14 communities have reached functional zero veteran and or chronic homelessness, a milestone for homelessness being rare and brief for a population. Learn more at www.community.solutions or follow us at @CmtySolutions.

About Heading Home of South Central Indiana: Heading Home is a community-wide collaboration working to strengthen housing security and decrease homelessness in this region, including Monroe, Morgan, Lawrence, Owen, Greene and Martin counties. The work is guided by the 2021 Heading Home Plan, which identifies system-level issues that can be improved to eliminate barriers to housing or to expedite access. More info at headinghomeindiana.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alden Iaconis
(202) 516-6593
alden@keybridge.biz

SOURCE: Community Solutions