On Monday, City of Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs announced the establishment of a joint partnership to help those in the area experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
The Knoxville-Knox County Office of Housing Stability (OHS) was created to “prevent and respond to housing instability and homelessness,” according to a press release by the City of Knoxville.
The joint office will collaborate with numerous local organizations, agencies, and individuals who have experienced homelessness first-hand in order to “set a common vision with shared goals informed by a systems-level, evidence-based approach that is data-driven to keep families in their homes and connect people to housing opportunities and services,” according to the press release.
Mayors Kincannon and Jacobs named Erin Read as Director of the OHS, citing her experience at the Knox County Health Department since 2010, most recently as Division Director of Substance Misuse Response.
“I’m grateful to Mayor Jacobs and Mayor Kincannon, who have paved the way for a collaborative approach to homelessness across the City and the County,” Read said in a statement. “I look forward to working with local government, nonprofits, people with lived experience of homelessness, businesses, faith communities and philanthropies to set a course to make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.”
“No single agency or sector commands all the needed resources but together we’ll make durable progress,” Read added.
In February 2022, Knoxville-area homeless service providers and outreach workers identified 1,178 homeless individuals in Knoxville, which included 373 unsheltered individuals and 805 who were in emergency shelter or transitional housing. This number, according to data by the city, marked a 50 percent increase at the time from the previous year’s data.
Prior to the City of Knoxville and Knox County’s announcement of the joint office this week, the two entities have invested more than $80 million in response to housing instability and homelessness in the last two years, with $14.5 million designated specifically for the assistance of unhoused residents
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
Photo “Indya Kincannon” by City of Knoxville. Photo “Glenn Jacobs” by Knox County Tennessee. Background Photo “Homeless Encampment” by Brandi Alexandra.
