Create a 10-word scroll-stopping headline for: Durham Seeks Funding to End Homelessness by 2031 | Vibe NC

After two years of caring for their son’s medical needs, Tiffany Solomon and her husband had exhausted their savings. Unable to renew their lease, Solomon’s family bounced between 15 hotels in one month and landed in a homeless shelter for four more, until a case manager helped them find a stable home. 

Seven years later, Solomon has helped Durham create a plan to help people like her. By 2031, the city aims to place people experiencing homelessness into existing housing within 30 days. More than 1,400 people currently experience homelessness in Durham, with about 600 people living unsheltered and 284 on shelter waitlists, according to city data.

“This is the perfect time to look at the entire approach—the system, where the fragments are, and try and do something different,” said Solomon, who worked on the plan as a member of the city’s Homeless Services Advisory Committee.

In partnership with nonprofit Community Solutions’ national Built for Zero initiative, Durham’s Strategic Plan to End Homelessness aims to make homelessness “rare and brief” for all populations in the next five years, with the first milestone being a 30% reduction in unsheltered homelessness by June 2027.

The initiative is projected to cost $13 million for its first year, but not all of the funding has been accounted for. The city’s proposed budget offers $4.55 million, sourced from COVID-era grants. Durham County has proposed chipping in $500,000, much less than the city’s initial ask of $3 million, amid a budget deficit. 

The city has requested an additional $5 million from private funders, including Duke University and the A.J. Fletcher Foundation, likely to be finalized in the next three months. The city also asked 4th Congressional District Rep. Valerie Foushee for help securing $2 million in federal funding. 

Anise Vance, assistant director of community safety in Durham, said, if fully funded, this plan could “really move the needle” on homelessness in the city.

“Instead of hanging on a waitlist for months or even years, somebody who’s experiencing homelessness could be inside within 30 days,” Vance said. “That is a radical change.”

If the plan does not get fully funded, Vance said the city will need to modify its goals, likely moving fewer people into housing.

The city and county haven’t had a unified plan to address homelessness in nearly a decade, Vance said. Based on a count conducted on a single winter night each year, people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Durham increased from 32 people in 2016 to 196 people in 2025. The city’s more expansive database, launched in January, now counts 600 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

Russell Pierce, executive director of the supportive housing nonprofit Housing for New Hope, helped create the plan. Pierce attributes the increase in homelessness to a lack of affordable housing, signaling a need for more help from the city…