Housing First Concord
What “Housing First” Means
“Housing First” is a nationwide model for ending homelessness that is centered on the belief that everyone can achieve stability in permanent housing directly from homelessness, and that stable housing is the foundation for achieving other health or social services goals. The approach prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thereby ending their homelessness and serving as the platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life.
People who are chronically homeless often make extensive use of public services, such as shelters, hospitals, emergency rooms, jails, and prisons, all at great cost to the community. Permanent supportive housing leads to decreased use of all these public services, which saves money for the community. At the same time, it increases the health and wellbeing of those served. Housing First works for individuals and their communities.
Housing First Concord
Housing First Concord is CCEH’s first and oldest permanent supportive housing program for individuals who have struggled with “chronic” homelessness. This means that the individual has been homeless for over a year and has some kind of disability: physical, developmental, mental health, substance use disorder, or a combination. These clients are the most vulnerable, and often have the highest barriers to securing housing.
In partnership with Crossroads House, participants in the Housing First Concord program are provided a rental subsidy so that they can afford an apartment in the community. CCEH provides the intensive, ongoing caseworker support to the participant to make the transition to being stably housed, and to address other participant-driven goals as they are ready.
Clients are housed in apartments owned by private landlords, large-scale developers and property managers, or in CCEH-owned units.
Providing access to housing generally results in cost savings for communities, because people who are housed are less likely to use costly emergency services, including hospitals, jails, and emergency shelter, than those who are homeless.
Housing First Concord
Housing First Concord is the permanent supportive housing program of the Concord Coalition to End Homelessness for individuals who have struggled with “chronic” homelessness. This means that the individual has been homeless for over a year, and also has some kind of disability (physical, developmental, mental health, substance use disorder, or a combination).
We provide a rental subsidy so that the participant can afford an apartment in the community. We also provide intensive, ongoing caseworker support to the participant to make the transition to being stably housed, and to address other participant-driven goals as they are ready.
“We feel safe and happy, and we are so grateful,” Alicia and Roland want you to know, and they admit that they don’t know if they’d be alive today without the support they received from CCEH.
