Supportive Housing Communities Inc.

SHC is committed to providing affordable housing and a network of supportive services to the chronically homeless so that these can live independently within the community. Many in this population, often have physical, mental, emotional and substance use issues, in addition to an often-chaotic lifestyle resulting from the uncertainty of often not knowing where to sleep each night. This population includes families with children, as well as single men and women. Accordingly, our results focus on housing and mental health stability. Also, for residents who are in recovery from substance dependence, we are also committed to preventing relapses. Specifically, the metrics we use to measure success are:
 Housing stability: the percentage of residents in the supportive housing programs that remain stably housed for the entire year;
 Mental health stability: the percentage of McCreesh Place residents with a diagnosed mental illness that do not visit the emergency room for a mental health crisis for the entire year;
 Continued Recovery: the percentage of McCreesh Place residents in recovery that do not relapse for the entire year.

In FY 2022, 96 percent of SHC residents maintained stable housing, 97 percent of McCreesh Place residents with a diagnosed mental illness did not go the emergency room for a mental health crisis and 93% of the McCreesh Place residents in recovery did not relapse. SHC will strive to further improve on this already high level of success, to fulfill our overall goal of providing safe and affordable housing and the supportive services needed for our residents to lead content and productive lives.

SHC provides a variety of programs and services, each with a different emphasis, but all connected by their mission to care for the most vulnerable homeless individuals in Charlotte. SHC’s core programs and services are as follows:

• McCreesh Place, which opened in 2003, is Charlotte’s first permanent supportive housing complex. It has 64 Single-Room Occupancy (SRO) units with communal bathrooms and kitchens and 26 one-bedroom units to house the chronically homeless in active recovery from addiction. Case managers provide the supportive services to help the residents achieve self-determined personal goals related to finances, relationships, employment, recovery and health.

• The Housing First model focuses on providing permanent housing with few or no barriers or restrictions, such as sobriety and employment, to people experiencing homelessness. Consistent with this model, SHC developed the Scattered Sites Program in 2013 which utilizes 75 privately-owned rental units scattered throughout Mecklenburg County to provide barrier-free affordable housing options.

• The Rapid Rehousing Program, which was established in 2015 as part of the Scattered Sites Program, places individuals and families in privately-owned rental units throughout the Mecklenburg County. The supportive services in this program are designed to transition residents to self-sufficiency within two years.

• In 2017, SHC acquired and renovated St. Johns Place, a 31-unit apartment complex in East Charlotte, to expand the number of permanent supportive housing units as well as mitigate the loss of the dwindling supply of naturally occurring affordable housing in Charlotte. SHC reserves at least half of the units for vulnerable clients of partnering organizations including Roof Above, Cardinal Innovations and Mecklenburg County Shelter Plus Care Program.

• SHC also operates a street outreach team through the national Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) program. The SHC PATH outreach teams provide services for people with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness. The services include referrals for primary and mental health care, substance use disorder treatment and transportation, in addition to help secure permanent housing.

• SHC has also established two new initiatives focusing on chronically homes families and their children. The Lake Arbor Resettlement Project (LARP) provides affordable housing solutions for some of the most vulnerable families from the Lake Arbor Apartments, which closed and left most of the residents at imminent risk of homelessness. In the Keeping Families Together (KFT) Initiative, SHC is partnering with Mecklenburg County’s Division of Youth and Family Services (YFS) to serve 50 families over three years who have open cases with its Child and Protective Services section to assist with family reunification.

SHC is an active participant in the Homeless Services Network (HSN), Charlotte's unique collaboration among 35 agencies focused on impacting homelessness, with SHC Executive Director Pamela Jefsen serving as the 2018 Past Chair. SHC collaborates with Charlotte's HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) program and attends monthly CoC meetings. CoC coordinates all community activities around homelessness, writing and submitting an annual grant request for $4 million benefitting Mecklenburg County residents. Jefsen was also a member of the team that created the Coordinated Entry system in Charlotte.

SHC offers about 50 monthly activities in the Community Room at McCreesh Place. SHC case managers offer many services to our residents, including AA meetings, NA meetings, Dual Recovery meetings, Relapse Prevention, and Wellness Recovery Action Planning, along with a Walking Club and Healthy Lifestyle Group. Central Piedmont Community College facilitates GED classes, and various volunteer groups provide meals, game activities, and monthly birthday parties for the residents. These activities allow residents to build trust, friendships and a sense of community, helping them to stay stable in their housing.

SHC works with agencies that provide mental health and recovery support, such as Monarch, Atrium Health, Novant Health Care, CMC Behavioral Health, Anuvia Prevention & Recovery Center, McLeod Center, Carolinas Care Partnership, and Veteran's Services. These agencies provide services to residents in partnership with SHC to help with goal attainment and stability.

SHC primarily serves the “chronically homeless”—defined as those who have been homeless for more than one year and who also have at least one disability. We give priority to those who have the highest vulnerability scores (as measured by a standard psychometric test). During the past fiscal year, 82% of residents in our supportive housing programs were chronically homeless. The remaining 18% were also highly vulnerable but had been homeless for less than a year before joining SHC.

Chronic homelessness is an increasing problem in Charlotte. According to the 2017 PIT count, less than 10% of the homeless individuals counted during a single night in January were chronically homeless; in the 2018 count, this percentage increased to 13% (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Annual Data Report on Housing and Homelessness, p. 55). This 13% of the homeless population is the most difficult to keep housed and the most expensive to leave on the street.

The chronically homeless population are expensive because of their utilization rates of the healthcare system, criminal justice system, and emergency shelters. According to a study conducted by University of North Carolina at Charlotte, chronically homeless persons in Charlotte racked up an average of approximately $35,000 a year in emergency room bills before they were placed in supportive housing. After being housed, this number dropped to an average of just over $11,000 (Thomas, Lori, et al., 2015, Moore Place Permanent Supportive Housing Evaluation Study Final Report, p. 37). Not only did emergency room bills dramatically, so did number of arrests, which was reduced by 82%, and number of days spent in jail, which went down 89% (Thomas, Lori, et al., 2015, p. 13).

The chronically homeless are the most difficult population to keep housed and the most expensive population to leave on the street. Nevertheless, SHC enjoys remarkable success in keeping this population stably housed, mentally healthy, and (for residents in recovery) substance-free. Since our supportive housing costs an average of $12,037 per household,* our success translates into tens of thousands of dollars saved per resident every year.

SHC is currently looking into expanding our program further to help get more chronically homeless people off of the streets or into shelters. Even with our continued growth, we strive to keep our 97% success rate of keeping residents in stable housing.