“A lot of stuff gets sorted out informally,” Haggerty says. “Some of this is not at all designed. Solutions tend to emerge organically if you get people in proximity to each other with clear goals, actionable data and regular communication.”
Convincing entire communities to change the way they approach homelessness is sometimes a matter of demonstrating the long-range cost effectiveness of creating housing versus hospital, shelter and jail costs incurred in attempting to manage homelessness. But Haggerty is discovering that civic pride has become a major “pull factor” in mobilizing communities.
That’s why Community Solutions also takes their systems approach to crafting a “real endgame” as Haggerty calls it: helping communities prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place. They also created and lead neighborhood networks in two of the communities with the highest rates of poverty and homelessness in the country. Even in these beleaguered neighborhoods, there are proud residents and organizations ready to work differently to turn around the communities they love. “In getting started, we look for those people who are the unofficial leaders individuals who know everyone, understand core problems, and find ways to help every day” says Haggerty. “The incredibly hopeful thing is that in every community we find these change agents. They have been there all along, waiting for a process that they can hook into."
As with any innovation, ending homelessness at the systems level demands high optimism and faith in all the players. “We start with a belief that everybody wants to be part of the solution,” Haggerty says. “We are completely open — everybody show up, you’re all invited. We are on the lookout for people who are change agents, leaders who want to get something done, early adopters ready to pull up their sleeves. But we don’t wait around for the laggards.”