Across the United States, one truth keeps rising to the surface: when people have a safe, stable place to sleep, everything else becomes possible. Health improves. Jobs become reachable. Families reunite. In 2025, supportive housing—permanent homes paired with on-site services—is proving to be one of the most powerful tools we have to end homelessness for good. Here’s a look at the national trends driving this movement, what programs are working, and how you can find help right here in Minneapolis.
Supportive housing blends affordable, permanent housing with on-site or closely linked services, and has emerged as one of the most effective tools for building healthier, more resilient communities. It typically combines long-term rental assistance with “wraparound” services such as case management, behavioral health care, substance use treatment, employment support, and connection to benefits.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness defines permanent supportive housing (PSH) as “an intervention that combines affordable housing assistance with voluntary support services to address the needs of chronically homeless people.” Importantly, tenants sign a standard lease, keep full tenant rights, and pay roughly 30% of their income toward rent. Everything else—case management, healthcare linkage, job help, peer support—is offered but never forced. Unlike shelters or programs that put a timer on your stay, the “permanent” in PSH is literal: you can remain as long as you follow a normal lease.
In 2024, there were 412,623 total permanent supportive housing beds in the US. And the evidence that this model works is overwhelming.
The Evidence Is Clear: What the Research Shows
Cost studies in multiple states and cities found that supportive housing results in decreased use of shelters, hospitals, emergency rooms, jails, and prisons. Over the past 20 years, dozens of studies across the country have shown that supportive housing is an effective solution to homelessness. Supportive housing improves housing stability, reduces the use of expensive crisis care, and improves outcomes even for individuals with complex needs.
Studies show permanent supportive housing reduces public costs by 50–60% compared to the expensive cycle of emergency services, shelters, and hospitals that chronically homeless individuals often rely on. More importantly, over 90% of residents avoid returning to homelessness.
A National Academies review found that PSH improves housing status for people experiencing homelessness with mental illness and reduces emergency department use and hospital stays. One study cited a 54% reduction in EMS calls for individuals after entering supportive housing, with each additional month in housing further reducing EMS contact.
Connecting people to Mental Health and Substance Use supports through stable housing is a key part of why these outcomes are so strong.
Trend #1: The Housing First Model Keeps Delivering Results
One of the only proven ways to effectively and sustainably end homelessness for people with the most profound challenges is to provide low-barrier, supportive housing without prerequisites—sometimes called Housing First. Decades of research show that providing housing paired with behavioral health supports and other voluntary treatment options works best and often costs less. It keeps people out of jails and emergency services, helping them stay housed, stable, and supported in their recovery.
There is a large and growing evidence base demonstrating that Housing First is an effective solution to homelessness. Consumers in a Housing First model access housing faster and are more likely to remain stably housed. Cities like Charlotte, NC have seen major savings: the City of Charlotte saved $2.4 million over the course of a year after creating a Housing First program, with tenants spending 1,050 fewer nights in jail and 292 fewer days in the hospital.
Trend #2: Turning Empty Buildings Into Homes
One of the most exciting trends nationally is converting vacant hotels, motels, and commercial buildings into supportive housing. Hotel-to-apartment conversions in 2024 represented more than 37% of all adaptive reuse projects nationwide, delivering over 9,100 new apartments—a 46% increase over the previous year.
Oregon’s Project Turnkey is a standout example. Oregon’s 2024 legislative session marked a pivotal moment with the allocation of additional funds towards Project Turnkey, a groundbreaking initiative that aims to repurpose hotels and motels into shelters and affordable housing. Within seven months of its launch, Project Turnkey created 19 new shelters in 13 counties and increased the state’s supply of shelter beds by 20%, bringing 865 new housing units online.
In New York, the Baisley Pond Park Residences made history as the state’s first hotel-to-housing conversion under the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA). The project completed a 318-unit, $167 million affordable housing development in South Jamaica, Queens, transforming the vacant JFK Hilton hotel into affordable and supportive apartments. RiseBoro Community Partnership will provide onsite support and wrap-around services for residents of 191 units as they transition from homelessness to permanent affordable housing.
At the federal level, the bipartisan RESIDE Act proposes a pilot grant program to convert vacant buildings into affordable housing, aiming to repurpose empty offices, malls, and motels, potentially addressing housing shortages in major U.S. metros.
Trend #3: States Are Stepping Up With Local Funding
With federal funding facing uncertainty, states and cities have taken action to protect and expand supportive housing. New York’s Governor Hochul secured major new investment: administered by New York’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, this funding supports more than 20,000 permanent supportive and transitional housing units serving some 36,000 individuals across the state. In the FY 2025-2026 State Budget, Governor Hochul secured a $17.8 million increase that boosts per-unit funding rates by approximately 40%—the largest funding increase for the program in 40 years.
In Oregon, a voter-approved supportive housing fund has delivered remarkable results. In four years since the first funding became available, the counties and their partners have used these dollars to place nearly 8,800 households (over 13,800 people) in housing and provide housing stabilization services on over 18,711 occasions.
What’s Happening Right Here in Minneapolis
Minneapolis is part of this national movement—and there are real, tangible resources available to you right now.