Over 11,000 individuals and families face homelessness each year. On any given night, more than 4,000 adults and children sleep on the street or in overcrowded shelters.

Homelessness is lethal, and more individuals are being exposed to longer periods of homelessness. This fact calls for a new approach that focuses on ending rather than managing homelessness in Nashville. The following facts highlight the need for a new response:

• Contrary to popular belief, over 50% of the homeless population is working and many more are seeking work.
• Children should not grow up in homeless shelters or on the street. Metro Nashville Public Schools reported that 1,600 school children were homeless during the course of the past school year.
• Nashvillians should not die on the street. More than 50 homeless individuals died on the street in 2008.
• “Affordable” housing options are too costly for a person earning minimum wage, and funding for new housing from the federal government has not increased in 25 years. (3,000 individuals are currently on a waiting list for housing vouchers through the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency.)
• Nashville spends $35,000 per person per year to “manage” homelessness. It costs an average of $17,000 annually to provide adequate housing and wrap-around services for a homeless person.