Thirty-three people who had been living at a Raleigh encampment are moving into housing through Wake County’s Wake at Home initiative.
The effort followed eight weeks of intensive outreach, with community and government partners working with people at the campsite to offer housing and help them move into their own spaces. The encampment has since closed.
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Eileen Rosa, Wake County’s Continuum of Care Lead Agency Director, said some people accepted the housing offer immediately, while others needed more time to build trust.
“Once you have something real to offer people, and you make good on that promise, and you keep showing up, and you have that consistency, the majority, the vast majority of people will accept that housing offer,” Rosa said.
The people living at the encampment came from a variety of circumstances. Rosa said outreach teams sometimes visited early in the morning or later in the evening because some residents were at work.
The group also included veterans, couples, older adults, and a pregnant family that was housed before the baby was born.
Local programs and organizations worked together on the effort, including Wake County, the City of Raleigh, Oak City Cares, Triangle Family Services, Alliance Health and WakeMed’s HEART team.
People housed from encampments through Wake at Home receive a year-long rental subsidy and case management services to help them stabilize and remain housed.
And organizers say this is only the beginning.
Wake at Home’s first phase aims to move 400 people directly into housing and help others transition out of shelters. Rosa said the initiative will continue identifying encampments across Wake County and working to have housing resources available before those sites are closed.