It actually saves the city money when they work together with the homeless to find a place to live. This is a really interesting fact that I learned while researching a variety of articles on homelessness. There have been a number of studies that have shown this fact, from ones in Florida, Colorado, and etc., but this one comes from Charlotte, North Carolina, where researchers at the University of North Carolina Charlotte studied a new apartment complex that was for homeless people.

This complex opened in 2012 starting with 85 units. The rules for the place are that each resident has to pay thirty percent of their income towards rent. The income ranges from any money from a job to benefits from the government. The rest of the costs are covered by a combination of local and federal government grants and private donors. In the first year, taxpayers save about $1.8 million because of two areas that had less a burden of homeless people which were health care and incarceration. With this housing complex being open, the residents visited the emergency room 447 fewer times than in past years. Also they were arrested 78 percent less during that first year as well. Because of the large amount of success that the housing complex was having, the Charlotte City Council approved about $1 million to have the Moore Place expand to 120 units.

For more information and links to the other city’s studies, click this link

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/03/24/3418140/charlotte-homeless-study/