In October, seven members of the Heartland HOUSED team and Strategy Board traveled to Seattle, Washington, to participate in the 2026 Built for Zero Learning Session, hosted by Community Solutions. The session brought together communities from around the country to learn from experts and each other about how to move efforts forward to make homelessness rare and brief in our own communities.
Our team got the opportunity to engage and learn about a diverse range of topics touching on supporting veterans, reducing the number of people who are unsheltered, performance-based funding models, health care service integration and more. One of the incredible things about the learning session is that it made space for the complex and broad solutions necessary to effectively address homelessness while also inspiring communities to take straightforward steps forward.
One of the plenaries included a presentation on evaluation and analysis from five years of Community Solutions’ efforts to help communities reduce homelessness and what that evidence suggests communities have to do to make meaningful and sustainable reductions in homelessness. We were encouraged as we listened to the research findings and thought about where Springfield and Sangamon County have improved in recent years. We have established Heartland HOUSED as a strong backbone organization to lead efforts, developed strategies, increased usage of data to drive decision making and have used that data to measure impact and continuously improve, strengthened cross-sector partnerships, increased the amount of housing resources connected to our homeless crisis response system and worked to build on visible results to increase public support. For each of seven lessons identified from the evaluation of Community Solutions’ work, we have seen improvement at the local level. This is a testament to local investment, Continuum of Care organizations and their strong partnerships, and our community’s desire to create a more compassionate and effective response to homelessness.
Learning from what is working or not working in other communities is among the best tools we have at our disposal as we navigate how to improve our own. I’m encouraged that as we learn about how some of the most effective communities in the country are organizing themselves for progress, together we have created a comparable foundation to address this complex challenge. I’m inspired by communities who have gone beyond foundation building to make significant progress constructing and scaling the solutions necessary to reduce homelessness. I’m challenged by the reality that we still have much work to do in Springfield and Sangamon County to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves in our strategic plan.
We hear from community members who care deeply about the issue of homelessness but feel overwhelmed when trying to understand or help others navigate the services and programs necessary to support people as they pursue housing stability. This is an important challenge across the nation as the narratives around how to best address homelessness have become increasingly polarized in recent years. Locally at the end of the day, the conversations we have point to community members who simply want to know what will be effective and how we can partner to make that possible.
Community Solutions distilled these complex challenges and their solutions into “A Shared Agenda to Reduce Homelessness.” The agenda consists of three key priorities:
1. Enough housing for people at every income level. Communities have to have a range of housing options so that all of their residents have a safe place to live.
2. A response system accountable for results. There has to be a dedicated team coordinating the work, maintaining accurate by-name data on those needing help with housing, and regularly tracking outcomes to help communities house people every day, see where progress is stalling and change course quickly.
3. Help when people need it. Healthcare, employment and other supports are available to help people get housed and stay housed.
Recognizing that no one organization or intervention is going to reduce homelessness alone, this shared agenda invites us to move forward as one team involving housing, homeless response, healthcare, business and other partners to make progress. I believe we are well on our way into living into this shared agenda and the foundational principles that drive, the challenge still remains for us to develop new initiatives where needed, improve our efforts when complex care is required, and scale the solutions to meet the needs of our community.
We’ve built a strong foundation for reducing homelessness, but now we need to turn that foundation into measurable, communitywide reductions. We are grateful for the many partners who have already joined this mission, and we recognize that achieving lasting progress will require even broader collaboration and commitment. Whether through expanding housing opportunities, connecting people to essential supports, investing resources or helping shape community solutions, there is a role for everyone in this work. The evidence shows us that meaningful progress is possible when communities work together around shared goals. Now is the time to build on what we’ve started and turn our shared commitment into lasting change for Springfield and Sangamon County.
Josh Sabo is the executive director of Heartland HOUSED.
This article appears in October 29-November 4, 2026.
