CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On any given night, United Way estimates 2,400 people are homeless in Charlotte. Now, it is working to try to reduce that through a project with the city, the county and private groups, like shelters.
"We want to reduce those who actually enter the homeless system, we want to reduce the duration of their time in the system once they enter it and we want to make sure they get the right services on the first try," said Dennis Marstall, United Way's vice president of community investment and impact.
The project is part of a push that is linked to federal money. Marstall said that Charlotte would get about $4.4 million. United Way has already used donations to hire a consultant to come up with a coordinated assessment plan.
"The concept really is that when someone comes in to be able to assess their needs immediately and then get them connected to the right provider," said Carson Dean, executive director of the Men's Shelter of Charlotte.
Dean said the shelter and other organizations in the city already try to do that every day. Coordinated assessment would make that process more efficient across organizations.
"Through the use of technology, for example, another agency that a homeless man might go to, could look up and say, 'the homeless shelter has space so we can get you connected to them right today,'" said Dean.
He said the database could also keep track of people who have received help in the past so providers know what could help in the future. He said those people would have to give consent to be entered into the database, then their information would be shared with certain agencies.
"The intent is not to track you or just know a lot of stuff about you. The intent is to help you," said Dean.
"If you get them placed right the first time you are going to reduce our homelessness because you are taking care of the core issue," said Marstall.
Marstall says the project is still in the planning phase. A coordinated assessment plan should be finalized in six to seven months.
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