Memphis is improving in some of its “system performances” as a community when it comes to the topic of homelessness, said Julie Meiman, continuum of care planning director for the Community Alliance For The Homeless.
Meiman noted that locally there have been “system-wide” improvements, with lower rates of returns to homelessness, and increased rates of people exiting homelessness with income. There has also been an increase in dedicated funding streams from federal, state, and local sources for homelessness.
Ashley Cash, director of housing and community development for the city of Memphis, said that they have made “a lot of efforts” around reducing homelessness by partnering with other agencies and partners.
While there have been notable strides made, homelessness remains a local and national problem.
Meiman said that here in Memphis there is still a need for emergency shelter that is both “low barrier and free.”
“Even when we can permanently house people, sometimes our resources still fall short, when it comes to providing them with things in order to stay housed, such as access to adequate healthcare,” said Meiman.
Cash added that while, most of the time, shelters are full, there are also people who are categorized as “housed,” but still live in poor conditions.
On a national level, Meiman said that homelessness has “incrementally increased” over the past six years.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness’ 2023 State of Homelessness report, “homelessness has been on the rise since 2017, experiencing an overall increase of 6 percent.”
The same report said that in Memphis and Shelby County, there were approximately 1,055 people homeless on a given night in 2022.
CAFTH believes that the solution to Memphis’ homelessness problem does not lie within one entity or organization, but rather the result of “cross-sector collaboration.”
“We all know that families are experiencing homelessness right now in Memphis, and they need support across the spectrum from prevention to diversion, to emergency shelter, to permanent housing,” said Meiman.
Collaboration was the theme for CAFTH’s second annual Symposium on Ending Homelessness, which concluded that “no one person or nonprofit agency or leader” alone can reduce homelessness or end homelessness all together.
During the symposium, Meiman mentioned the efforts being made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a city that is close to becoming the first in the nation to end homelessness, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness.
“Milwaukee’s recent progress is a testament to what can be accomplished when communities come together to address homelessness,” said a report from the organization.
Meiman explained that the Continuum of Care (CoC) in Milwaukee partnered with the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County, and pulled in case managers, eviction lawyers, and other individuals and groups to “develop a new strategy” with a “creative funding model that focused on prevention.”
“That kind of cross-sector collaboration is well within reach for Memphis and Shelby County,” said Meiman.
While she believes that Memphis and Shelby County have the resources and ability to collaborate on the issue, she said that system-level change is difficult, and often moves at a “glacial pace.” However, she added that Memphis and Shelby County’s CoC is designed for this type of collaboration.
“It is rare, it is golden, and it is full of people who are powerful because they are willing and able to do this work,” said Meiman.