2024 Spring Issue of Urban Land - 68

that end, Lotus Campaign partners with innovative
organizations delivering social services
and trauma care to help ensure its clients
don't end up homeless again. She calls these
partnerships " neighborhoods of opportunity. "
Horak-Brown of New Hope Housing says
partnering with hospitals and education systems
is key in helping to solve homelessness.
Housing is a social determinant of health, she
says, stating that diverting dollars from the
health care system for housing makes sense.
" Thinking about housing as a societal
necessity rather than a privilege and the
impacts [housing] costs have on our health
care and education systems is key, " she says.
New Hope has a health clinic in one of its
buildings. Another houses Bezos Academy, a
preschool fully funded by Amazon founder
Jeff Bezos. Horak-Brown says these partnerships
are testaments to New Hope's belief
in the integral relationship between housing,
health care, and education.
Silverman has paid attention to data sugNew
York-based Community
Solutions has been able to tap
into an array of private capital,
including from health care
companies, foundations, and
other corporate interests.
gesting individuals living in neighborhoods
with high-quality amenities are more likely
to experience upward mobility. Part of Lotus
Group's model is to partner with housing
providers that have properties and units in
mixed-income and market-rate communities.
Lotus hopes to break the cycle of homelessness
by housing individuals in communities
with access to high-quality amenities, facilitating
long-term support through collaborations
with social service partners.
Community Solutions' Built for Zero campaign
is active in about 100 cities nationwide
that are working to end homelessness through
a data-driven approach. Haggerty says that to
address homelessness, organizations need to
understand why people are becoming homeless
and examine where the gaps are. She
emphasizes that in a supportive housing environment,
property managers should take an
interest in their tenants' wellbeing and engage
in any challenges they may be facing.
According to La Franchi, SDS's developments
also provide risk management and
counseling on-site: " We provide tenants with
the outreach assistance they need to help put
them on a path to personal sustainability. "
Changing the lens
Silverman says that homelessness is a multifaceted
problem compounded by rising costs
in the real estate sector. Industry leaders agree
that dwindling affordable housing is putting
people at risk of not having a place to live,
and Silverman says the narrative that homelessness
is driven by such factors as drug
abuse distracts from the affordability issue.
Housing precarity is on the rise, she says, and
" even experiencing one night without housing
is a traumatic event. "
Haggerty thinks rising awareness has had
a galvanizing effect in real estate and development
circles, with more organizations than
ever stepping forward to help. " You can look
at the situation of housing the homeless as a
crisis, " she says, " or you can look at it and say,
'we're all on the same page now and we really
need to lean into this issue.' "
Capital is not a primary barrier, she adds.
" More money is needed, I guess, but to say if
it weren't for money we could solve this isn't
necessarily true. You just have to get creative. "
UL
CARISSA CHAPPELL is a digital content editor with Standard and
Poors Global Ratings, based
in Chicago.
68
URBAN LAND SPRING 202 4
C OMMUNIT Y S OL UTIONS
2024 Spring Issue of Urban Land

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