It’s Coming…

Written by Carson Dean on March 12, 2015. Posted in Carson's Blog

Previously, I’ve blogged about best practices adopted by Men’s Shelter of Charlotte (MSC).  This week MSC announced the coming addition of Diversion to our ending homelessness toolkit.  Diversion, as promoted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, is a strategy that [ends] homelessness for people seeking shelter by helping them identify immediate alternate housing arrangements and, if necessary, connecting them with services and financial assistance to help them return to permanent housing.  In other words, for many men showing up on MSC’s doorstep seeking a bed for the night there are alternatives to keep them from actually needing that bed.  Our Diversion Specialists will work with men on family reunification, mediation, and immediate financial assistance so they won’t need to use emergency shelter.  Ultimately, we believe that 20% of the men seeking emergency shelter at MSC will be appropriate for diversion, reducing demand for shelter beds by 200-300 men per year!  Diversion is one more tool for MSC to further accomplish our mission of providing safe emergency shelter while working to end homelessness for each man.  We expect to launch our Diversion initiative by the end of March, 2015.  To learn more about MSC’s Diversion Launch, please visit our website www.MensShelterofCharlotte.org.