Built for Zero
Central Oregon has become the 7th Oregon Community to join Built for Zero, a national initiative of more than 90 communities working to measurably and equitably end homelessness.
What does this mean?
● Central Oregon will work toward ending veteran and chronic homelessness by reaching and sustaining a milestone known as “functional zero”.
● Functional zero is a dynamic milestone that works to produce a new sustained reality where homelessness is rare and brief for a population
The Built for Zero methodology has been developed and refined to help communities develop coordinated, data-driven systems capable of making homelessness rare and brief for a population.
- Communities develop or deepen their community-wide teams. The community brings together a community-wide team that works together to measurably and equitably end homelessness.
- Communities work toward a shared aim of functional zero. Communities work toward achieving and sustaining functional zero, a measure for ending homelessness
for a population. Communities start by focusing on creating coordinated, data-driven systems capable of ending homelessness for a population, with the goal of scaling this progress to all populations. An Urban Institute report published in August 2021 found that this methodology helps communities accelerate progress across populations - Communities use quality, real-time data. The community develops quality by-name data, which includes each person experiencing homelessness by name and provides real-time insights into their needs. This data also provides population-level insights, like inflow and outflow, which enables communities to understand whether efforts are driving down the overall number of people experiencing homelessness.
- Communities target interventions based on real-time data. Using the by-name list, the community targets resources and investments for the maximum reductions in homelessness.
This work relies heavily on Central Oregon’s Coordinated Entry System and a collaborative approach to Street Outreach.
Want to get involved?
Contact: HMIS@neighborimpact.org or info@cohomeless.org