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What Is Housing First — and Why Does It Matter Right Now?

If you or someone you love is facing homelessness, you deserve to know what solutions actually work — and how your city is trying to help. One policy approach, called Housing First, has been at the center of the national conversation for years. Recent data from 2024 and 2025 is giving us a clearer picture than ever of what works, what’s under pressure, and how cities like Houston and Minneapolis are navigating this crisis.

At its core, Housing First is a homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals — without requiring people to address all of their problems, including behavioral health issues, before they can access housing.

Once people have access to housing, services like health care, mental health care, addiction treatment, and job training are offered so they can maintain that housing in the long run. In other words: a stable home comes first — everything else becomes possible after that.

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The National Picture: Homelessness on the Rise

The numbers are sobering. The United States experienced an unprecedented rise in homelessness driven by the nation’s affordability crisis — increasing 18 percent, from 653,104 people in the 2023 Point-in-Time Count to 771,480 people in 2024.

Yet the story isn’t all grim. Homeless response workers are connecting more people with housing and shelter than ever before, including services like healthcare, employment, and income support programs — serving more than 1.1 million people in need in 2024, a 12 percent increase from 2023.

And when Housing First has been consistently implemented over time, the results speak for themselves. From 2007 to 2016, the total number of people experiencing homelessness decreased by 15 percent — with family homelessness dropping 23 percent, veteran homelessness falling by 47 percent, and chronic homelessness decreasing by 27 percent.

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Houston: America’s Housing First Success Story

No city has demonstrated the power of Housing First more dramatically than Houston, Texas. In 2012, the city went all-in on Housing First. Since then, homelessness is down 63% in the greater Houston area, and more than 30,000 people have been housed.

The key to Houston’s success? Coordinated collaboration. Houston’s approach centers on bringing together more than 100 social service organizations — which historically competed against each other — under the leadership of a single umbrella organization run by the Houston Coalition for the Homeless. That program, called The Way Home, has dismantled 127 homeless encampments, but only after housing had been found for all of the occupants.

Houston’s housing-first policies have had positive results — with the city seeing a 16% reduction in homelessness since 2020, a stark contrast to the U.S. as a whole, which recorded record highs in homelessness in 2024.

However, Houston’s model is now facing pressure. The uptick after years of decline comes as COVID relief funding in the city ends and uncertainty surrounding federal funding for housing assistance programs rises. In response, Houston launched the Initiative to End Street Homelessness Fund in February, seeking a $70 million investment from public and private institutions.

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What’s Happening Right Here in Minneapolis?

Minneapolis is working hard to apply Housing First principles locally — and seeing real progress. The number of people living unsheltered fell by another 14 percent in 2025 — a one-third decrease since 2020, according to the Hennepin County Point-in-Time count.

The City’s Way Home Report tracking housing and homelessness outcomes shows a significant and sustained increase in investment since 2018, totaling $400 million through 2024. Most recently, the City Council awarded more than $14 million in direct investment to jumpstart 11 affordable rental housing projects, adding or preserving nearly 600 affordable homes for Minneapolis families, seniors, and residents exiting homelessness.

A big local milestone: In 2024, Hennepin County announced it had effectively ended veteran homelessness, with 69 veterans experiencing homelessness at the end of September 2024 — a nearly 60% decrease from August 2023.

Minnesota Housing has funded more than 7,500 supportive housing units in over 400 properties located across the state in the last 20 years. Owners of these properties are specifically instructed that supportive housing units are intended to follow Housing First principles with low-barrier and inclusive access for households experiencing homelessness and persons with disabilities.

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Local Minneapolis Programs Making a Difference

If you or someone you know needs help right now, here are some key programs in our area:

• Avivo Village (Minneapolis): A first-ever, indoor community of 100 secure, private dwellings or “tiny houses” that provides shelter and wraparound services to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Since opening in December 2020, 343 individuals have moved on to safe, permanent housing.
• Minnesota Housing Support Program: Over 20,000 Minnesotans receive Housing Support assistance each month to help pay for rent and food. Contact your county human services office to apply.
• Family Homeless Prevention and Assistance Program (FHPAP): FHPAP provides supportive services and financial assistance — such as rent deposits, rent payments, or utility payments — to eligible households that are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness.
• Stable Homes Stable Schools: This fund provides emergency assistance to families at risk of losing their homes in all 43 Minneapolis Public School district elementary schools, offering two types of rental assistance to help prevent homelessness.
• Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center: The City Council has directed emergency funding to this center, which created a warming hub and a navigation center for more direct connections to Hennepin County’s permanent housing resources.

For a full directory of local programs, explore our Housing and

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