|
The Key Alliance promotes Housing First, a best-practice model that offers permanent housing coupled with intense case management to the most vulnerable homeless individuals in our community.
Housing First is a cost-effective and proven solution to chronic homelessness that is being implemented across the United States. Housing First can be accomplished without building new housing stock. Nashville has enough existing housing inventory which allows us to partner with property managers, developers and landlords to lease low-income rental units.
The Housing First model has three significant components:
- Access to permanent housing;
- Intensive and comprehensive case management by a team of master’s level social workers who are available to the client 24/7; and
- Acceptance of homeless clients who have been rejected by other programs.
Project Homeless Connect
The Key Alliance is starting the planning process for Project Homeless Connect 2010, which will be held Wednesday, December 8, at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds.
Sponsors and volunteers are needed.
Project Homeless Connect is a one-day, one-stop event to provide people experiencing homelessness with access to a broad range of services, including medical and foot care, legal services, employment assistance, pet care, food, shoes and haircuts. The event also helps participants contact long lost family members, obtain identification and fill out applications for housing opportunities.
Last year, The Key Alliance was able to provide 1,558 individuals and families who either experienced homelessness or found themselves on the brink of homelessness with 9,500 services thanks to a collaboration with more than 60 service providers and 700 volunteers.
For more information visit our Project Homeless Connect page.
With a 92 % housing retention rate, the Housing First Campaign to end chronic homelessness has shown that it provides a solution to helping the most vulnerable individuals in our city who find themselves struggling with homelessness move into and stay in housing.
Nashville’s Housing First retention rate lies above the 80-85% housing retention rate many other cities report for their Housing First programs. Housing retention rates are calculated based on program participants who have been permanently housed and have retained their housing until present or the time of graduating into self-sufficiency.
Based on that calculation, 50 of the 54 participants who have been permanently housed in Nashville’s Housing First program have retained their housing. Of the four individuals who lost housing, three lost it due to a lack of income and one chose to leave housing. The housing retention rate is not affected when people move while in the program.
Click here to read more. |
