In Mecklenburg County and across this great nation, homelessness remains a highly visible -- and stubbornly persistent -- problem. The common perception is that a majority of the homeless are men and women who abuse drugs or alcohol. But it's not that simple. People get evicted from their homes because another crisis takes priority over paying rent. Single mothers and their children show up at shelters because the mother cannot afford to work and pay for day care. Other people are homeless because they are too sick to work or were forced to flee an abusive home. Some are children who have aged out of foster care and cannot afford to live on their own.

In July 2002, the Mecklenburg County Task Force on Homelessness completed a comprehensive strategic plan to reduce the prevalence, duration and impact of homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. A Way Home, a community-based "umbrella" organization, was created to provide a proactive community response to the alarming rise of homelessness in Mecklenburg County and the inability, with current resources, to effectively address the growing problem. It is a community issue needing community-wide solutions and broader community-wide support than currently exists.

A Way Home's mission is to "reduce the prevalence, duration and impact of homelessness in Mecklenburg County through advocacy, capacity building and strategic planning support." The organization is intended to, in part, lift up and strengthen the efforts of the Homeless Services Network, the local network of service providers.

A Way Home will not provide direct services to homeless individuals or families. Rather, its focus will be on the "big picture", addressing homelessness and the response to it on a system-wide basis, considering the impact of homelessness on individuals and families as well as the impacts and costs to the larger community.