A study on homelessness prevention in Tippecanoe County has reached its final stages.
Solutions Beyond Shelter has released its findings, which now go to a steering committee of local officials for implementation. The plan calls for conducting an assessment of homelessness prevention resources, analyzing data on the homeless population, and creating an advisory council of current and former homeless citizens.
The project was organized by the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CHS), a national nonprofit group.
Indiana’s CSH Director Lori Phillips-Steele says the report represents the collective efforts of community members on all sides of the issue.
"There were folks who were just interested people in the community who have been part of the process, service providers, housing providers, government officials, businesspeople, people who have experienced homelessness, so there was really a broad range of people involved."
James Taylor, executive director of the United Way of Greater Lafayette, thinks the plan will succeed based on the amount of community support it received.
"We probably will never have the entire community's perspective on this. But we do believe that we have been able to gather a sufficient, core group of the community voices from the population we're trying to serve's perspective, to the service providers, to funders, to the business community."
Officials with Solutions Beyond Shelter hope to end homelessness in Tippecanoe County by 2022.