How one Kansas City nonprofit is providing a solution for unhoused veterans

Tiny homes are being used to address the state’s homelessness crisis by providing a more permanent housing solution to those in need than tents or encampments. The city is currently operating 600 tiny homes and working to build more as they’ve seen a 10% decrease in the city’s unsheltered population. Of the 1,500 people who have lived in the tiny homes, 48% have moved on to permanent housing.

The Built For Zero program works to end homelessness by partnering with community organizations aimed at helping people experiencing homelessness — specifically veterans — access safe, affordable housing. The Detroit branch is one of the 105 cities nationwide participating in the program. Since joining in 2015, the city has reduced veteran homelessness by about 60%.

Inside Safe addresses the significant homelessness crisis in the city by traveling to encampments and offering people hotel rooms to stay in where they are connected with permanent housing and other necessary resources, like mental health care. Hotel rooms provide people with a safe space to heal and rest while working with a case worker to find housing. The initiative has so far moved 1,373 people into hotel rooms and 77 of them have moved into permanent housing.

Haven for Hope is a large, 22-acre, 1,600-person shelter that serves 85% of the city’s homeless population. It’s an all-inclusive space that provides a place to stay, as well as access to services like medical and dental care, counseling services, mental health care, childcare, job and housing assistance.

California’s Whole Person Care pilot program improved care for the state’s most at-risk Medicaid patients, like those experiencing homelessness and addiction. The program resulted in fewer hospitalizations and emergency room visits and also provided assistance in education, transportation, employment and helping participants access and maintain housing. The pilot program exists in 26 counties and served about 250,000 people.

Avivo Village provides shelter for those experiencing homelessness and assists them in securing their own permanent housing. Avivo Village is specifically for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and offers a safer option than staying in encampments. As of December, Avivo Village helped 119 secure housing and every time a person moves out, the Village moves in someone else from an encampment.

Almost 4 years ago, Opportunity Village was established in Eugene. It’s a community of tiny houses for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Street medicine teams across California are bringing therapy directly to unhoused people to address the widespread but overlooked mental health crisis among people experiencing homelessness. These teams conduct flexible, location-based therapy sessions using coping strategies adapted for life on the street, such as journaling and coloring. Multiple patients credit street therapy with helping them stabilize enough to navigate the complex housing application process and maintain housing once obtained.

Several California cities have adopted a new approach to clearing homeless encampments that prioritizes housing over displacement, called Inside Safe. The model involves spending 6-8 weeks getting to know each encampment resident individually, matching them with appropriate housing, moving people gradually and minimizing police involvement. Los Angeles's Inside Safe program has moved 5,200 people indoors over three years, with approximately 25% securing permanent housing.

PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) organizations are tackling the growing crisis of elder homelessness by expanding beyond traditional medical services to secure housing. These Medicaid and Medicare-funded organizations are partnering with senior housing providers, leasing apartment wings, and even developing their own housing projects to ensure their 83,000+ participants nationwide have stable places to live.