Cleveland's A Home for Every Neighbor has assisted more than 225 people, most of whom had been staying in encampments, and is now broadening its outreach. The program, directed by Liam Haggerty, arranges apartment leases in under two weeks, covers rent for a year, and links tenants with services. Since launching in 2024, it has served people from 77 encampments, Signal Cleveland reported.

As tent populations decline, the effort is turning to unsheltered residents who move among cars, doorways, bus shelters, and short-term stays before returning to the street. Haggerty said many in that group are young adults. The program is partnering with A Place For Me, which serves young people who are homeless or at risk, and the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland.

More than 20 people, some found through those partnerships, are expected to enter apartments within two weeks, according to Signal Cleveland. Haggerty said the team also is beginning work with Cleveland's Department of Building and Housing to identify people in abandoned or condemned properties; he said they qualify for help and the difficulty is finding them.

The program is trying to respond more quickly to encampment reports. Haggerty told a City Council committee that two camps—one at East 79th Street and Cedar Avenue and another in a park at West 116th and Belmont—were visited less than a month after the program learned of them. Haggerty said the early focus on numerical targets has shifted toward equilibrium—keeping the unsheltered count from increasing.

That may be harder next year as providers prepare for HUD funding changes. HUD is moving away from housing first toward transitional housing with two-year limits and service or work requirements. The shift is expected to reduce Cuyahoga County's permanent supportive housing by about 400 beds. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless will end case management when its contract expires in November, Haggerty said, though it may continue outreach and manage a fund for tenants' incidental costs.

The program is also developing behavioral health partnerships for participants needing intensive services.