01/18/2012

Exceeding Our Goal: 150,000 Units in Ten Years!

Ten years ago, CSH dedicated itself toward an ambitious goal: to help communities create 150,000 units of supportive housing in the next decade. As we kick-off 2012, we are incredibly proud to report that we have reached this goal. Thanks to our work with communities across the country, there are over 154,000 new units of supportive housing operational or in development.

In 2002, CSH brought together a cross-section of supportive housing providers, advocates and public officials from around the country, to build on the momentum that was growing nationally to end—not just manage—homelessness. This group of leaders convened in Columbus, Ohio, to discuss promising approaches in ending homelessness, building political will and attracting investment opportunities, and to develop a plan to bring supportive housing across the nation.

The result was the Compact to End Long-term Homelessness. Among other goals, the Compact called for “a focused, committed national initiative to end long-term homelessness over the coming decade by creating 150,000 units of permanent supportive housing targeted to families and individuals who are homeless for the long-term and by preventing more people from joining their ranks.”

CSH never lost sight of that commitment, and we’ve worked tirelessly in cooperation with our allies and partners to fulfill this important goal of the Compact. This joint success has a direct correlation to the dramatic drop in chronic homelessness.

Our calculations include units created through Federal policies that the entire industry fought hard to have created, passed and sustained, as well as those CSH directly helped create through lending, community work, technical assistance and the like.

At CSH, we’re now looking to the future and setting a course for supportive housing over the next several years. We began this exploration at the end of 2011 with panel discussions and an interview series featuring some of the industry’s most notable leaders. And we’re working now on our 3rd annual State of the Supportive Housing Industry Survey, which will help further inform where to from here. We’re also holding our Supportive Housing Leadership Forum this spring to cultivate even more ideas around the future of the field.

To be sure, CSH will continue to spark innovations that work hard for the supportive housing industry and the most vulnerable men, women and families across the country.

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