Strategies and Resources to Reduce Homelessness

Centers for Independent Living (CILs) have a strong commitment to being cross-disability and serving unserved and underserved populations. With the growing number of individuals across the U.S. who are experiencing homelessness, there is a need to improve outreach and services for this population. Housing affordability has been the key driver of increases in homelessness since 1980, (NAEH, 2021). The number of people experiencing homelessness (580,000 individuals) in the U.S. has increased for four years. That number includes 209,413 unsheltered adults living outside and 106,000 children, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), (NPR, 2021).

The purpose of this factsheet is to provide strategies and resources that CILs can utilize to conduct outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness. This factsheet was developed from the IL-NET National Training and Technical Assistance Center webinar titled “How CILs Can (and Should!) Support Consumers Experiencing Homelessness.” View this on-demand training on the ILRU website at https://www.ilru.org/training/how-cils-can-and-should-support-consumers-experiencing-homelessness.