EveryOne Home emphasizes ending homelessness (rather than managing it) by creating permanent supportive housing. It is a model that provides housing stability first, accompanied by much-needed supportive services.
EVERYONE HOME IS THE RESULT of a unique collaboration between cities, community stakeholders and Alameda County government agencies representing three separate care systems — homeless services, HIV/AIDS services and mental health services — that share overlapping client populations. They also share the recognition that stable housing is a critical cornerstone to the health and well-being of people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Their collaboration yielded the EveryOne Home Plan, a regional and multifaceted plan to end homelessness and housing instability throughout Alameda County.
Five Goals
- Prevent homelessness and other housing crises. The most effective way to end homelessness is to prevent it in the first place, particularly for people leaving foster care, hospitals, jails and prisons. In addition, successful benefits advocacy and employment opportunities will help people increase their incomes and prevent the financial crises that can compromise their ability to obtain and maintain housing.
- Increase housing opportunities for people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness. Implementation of EveryOne Home will create 15,000 units of supportive housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness and for extremely low-income people living with serious mental illness and/or HIV/AIDS. Increasing affordable supportive housing opportunities requires the creative use of existing resources, developing new resources and using effective housing and service models.
- Deliver flexible services to support stability and independence. Culturally competent, coordinated support services must accompany housing. EveryOne Home will establish a “no wrong door” policy of services delivery, making assessment and referrals available system-wide.
- Measure success and report outcomes. Evaluating outcomes allows agencies to identify successful programs and allows the system as a whole to target resources toward best practices. It also shows the community that ending homelessness is possible.
- Develop long-term leadership and build political will. The goals of EveryOne Home will be achieved by developing long-term leadership that can sustain the systems, change activities and build political and community support for ending homelessness.
For additional information on EveryOne Home, including the complete plan, visit www.everyonehome.org
Thank you to Linda Garner, Director, Alameda County Housing & Community Development for her contributions to this article.