CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It is no secret Charlotte is growing quickly. But as that happens, many people are finding it harder to find a stable place to live. Rents are rising and salaries aren’t keeping up, and more people are ending up on the streets.
Mecklenburg County recently released its 2022 State of Housing Instability & Homelessness Report. Right now, there are more than 3,000 people experiencing homelessness in the county, up 3% from 2021.
It’s a trend that’s been on the rise for several years.
Each number represents a person struggling to find and maintain the safety and security a home provides.
“We’re seeing that it’s harder to get out of homelessness so the length of time it takes when someone comes to us and seeks services, the length of time that it takes to get to housing is increasing,” Liz Clasen-Kelly with Roof Above told WCNC Charlotte.
Leaders working to make change say at the root of it is the lack of low-cost rentals available.
“There is definitely a correlation between the rising of rent in our community and the rising of people experiencing homelessness in our community,” Karen Pelletier, the Director of Housing, Innovation and Stabilization Services for Mecklenburg County Community Support Services, said.
The report found low-cost rentals are disappearing. Low-cost housing makes up 13% of the total housing stock, down from 45% in 2011.
It mirrors what boots-on-the-ground organizations like Roof Above hear from the people they serve.
“We can do what we can to meet basic needs but if there’s not a way out of homelessness, we’re going to have to keep building a wider and wider safety net and so what is our community doing to create innovative housing solutions -- and housing solutions at a price point that meet the needs of our community,” Clasen-Kelly said.
That work is in motion.
Mecklenburg County officials say there has been an increase in both permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing stock, but it’s still not enough to keep up.
“We have so many people in our community that have a housing voucher or a subsidy but cannot find housing for the subsidy would allow,” Pelletier said.
Pelletier added nearly half of the housing vouchers given during the pandemic have not been used yet and will expire in September. The county is putting out a call to action, working creatively to incentivize property managers to participate.
The county is looking to invest $650,000 into street outreach to better serve the people who are experiencing homelessness. The hope is to create a specific point of contact to better organize the efforts and as a result, better serve the people in need.
The report’s data helps give direction to county leaders working on change.
The county is accepting proposals for a provider to get a better handle on street outreach. There are already plenty of boots-on-the-ground organizations going out into homeless encampments, but the county is looking to make it more efficient, so no one is missed.
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“We want to expand that capacity and having that more strategic approach in being able to map out across our community about different sections of the county and make sure we have resources and people working on those parts of town,” Pelletier said.
Clasen-Kelly said Roof Above is still weighing the options on if this RFP is something they’d look to be involved with.
Contact Chloe Leshner at cleshner@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.