You make a difference every day in the lives of homeless people in Greater Cincinnati. Whether a homeless youth, or a homeless mother with children, or a homeless veteran. You help with your tax dollars, your time, and with your donations. And by understanding how ending homelessness will revitalize our Community. Meet Strategies to End Homelessness.
How Strategies to End Homelessness works to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati
If you are not familiar with Strategies to End Homelessness, you are not alone. We work behind the scenes. Our partner organizations are the real heroes. You may know our more than 30 nonprofit partners. Including the Freestore Foodbank, Shelterhouse, Lighthouse Youth & Family Services, Ohio Valley Goodwill, St. Vincent de Paul. We allocate federal, state, county, and city funding and offer technical assistance to these partners and others.
In addition, Strategies to End Homelessness also runs the Central Access Point Hotline to direct homeless people or those about to be homeless to these partners. Also, we monitor the success of the entire coordinated effort to end homelessness in Greater Cincinnati.
In December 2015 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gave us the very prestigious designation of Unified Funding Agency (UFA); only 1 of 14 in the U.S. This distinction highlights the strength of our entire community’s homeless services system, and allows us to better meet the needs of individuals and families who are homeless.
How many homeless people are in Greater Cincinnati?
Defining Homelessness, people who are: 1) unsheltered, sleeping in a place not meant for human habitation (on the streets, under a bridge, in a car), 2) residing in an emergency shelter, or 3) are fleeing domestic violence.
- 6,062 people experienced homelessness in Cincinnati in 2021 a <1% decrease from 2020 and a 14% decrease since 2019
- Of the 6,062 people experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati 15% spent at least part of the year unsheltered. A 10% decrease from 2020 and a 46% decrease from 2013
- The national average of unsheltered homelessness is 39% vs. 15% locally
- 23% of people experiencing homelessness in Cincinnati on the street or in shelter are children under age 18
- 51% of our homeless population is under age 35 and roughly 1 of every 4 people experiencing homelessness is a child
- In 2021, 415 Cincinnati families stayed in emergency shelter. And of those, almost one quarter were led by a parent aged 18-24
Cincinnati/Hamilton County was one of the first Continuums of Care in the Country to coordinate all system data into one data management system, which Strategies to End Homelessness uses to make positive system changes and improvements.
How can you help the homeless in Greater Cincinnati?
Ending homelessness is a community effort. The most valuable thing you can do is to donate time or money to the cause. Here are 5 ways you can help the homeless.
Thank you for visiting our site to learn more about the work we do. And thank you for envisioning a Greater Cincinnati in which everyone has a stable home and the resources needed to maintain it.
Kevin Finn, MSW, LISW-S
President/CEO
Strategies to End Homelessness
