We Must Explore Prevention Strategies to Solve Homelessness - A Letter from the CEO

The annual Point in Time (PIT) report was just released, and the news is distressing for our community: 1,144 people in Montgomery County are living outside or in a shelter. This is a 28-percent increase over last year’s shocking number of 894 people. There are other concerning spikes, including a 47-percent increase in family households (269 in 2023 to 396 this year). 

Sadly, those of us serving this community are not surprised.  

Why? For the past two years, we have been observing and responding as a tragic confluence of factors pushes more people into economic instability. Pandemic assistance programs have gone away, against a backdrop of skyrocketing rents and food prices. The exorbitantly expensive housing market remains the most destabilizing factor to the individuals and families in our community.  The PIT report, issued by the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments, notes that renters have long faced affordability challenges, but current conditions are “the worst on record.” 

As a Montgomery County-based nonprofit serving about 35,000 residents a year with an array of programs that include shelters, we applaud the County’s strong commitment to addressing emergency needs. With the support of Montgomery County Services to End and Prevent Homelessness, the County Executive’s team, and the County Council,  we at Interfaith Works have been able to increase our shelter capacity at all four shelter locations by 62 beds, and to keep our overflow shelter open in summer months to support the community members who have been made vulnerable by poverty and systemic inequities.  Currently, there are almost 80 people in our overflow shelter which normally closes on April 1.  Many of them are experiencing homelessness for the first time, and range in age from 18  to 82.   

While meeting the needs of those in crisis is essential, it means fewer resources are directed to address the root causes of homelessness, or the reasons our neighbors are forced to live outside and in shelters. The result is a hamster-wheel effect – nothing is getting better because not enough is being done to stem the increase in people who are unhoused. 

It is time to commit to more solutions that emphasize prevention. Otherwise, our systems potentially will be overwhelmed by the need to react to constant emergencies.  

We could build more shelters. But that is an expensive band-aid rather than a solution that addresses root causes. While we will need shelters as part of a coordinated response to homelessness, shelters remain the most expensive intervention, far more than providing solutions that emphasize prevention and diversion.

So what solutions should we consider?  

We need increased support for rental assistance and stronger renter protections. “With the end of pandemic eviction protections and rent stabilization efforts, landlords have been responding by raising rents, not renewing existing leases, and increasing barriers to housing despite Montgomery County laws on source of income protection and ‘ban-the-box’ on criminal histories,” notes the 2024 PIT report. 

We need better data. Under the current system, we do not collect information on how many people are coming into shelters because they have been evicted. It is hard to craft effective policies without gathering data to support and shape them. 

We need community case management – outreach services that help people maintain housing by ensuring they are aware of their rights as tenants and what resources are available to them.  

We also should look to other models for inspiration. For example, Finland has converted many of its shelters into permanent housing, creating new housing stock that comes with supportive services. The Finnish situation is not entirely parallel to jurisdictions like Montgomery County. But it does provide an example of fresh thinking, collaboration, and leadership that we should consider. 

We must act, and soon. If we do not commit to a strategic shift focused on prevention-oriented solutions, it is not hard to imagine next year’s count will again find that far too many people, including those with children, are experiencing homelessness. 

Courtney Hall, CEO