chronic homelessness

“Sold on a Promise” is a special two-part investigative series jointly produced by WFDD, BPR News and CityView that explores how a California developer and its nonprofit partner promised and then later failed to house around 550 homeless people in North Carolina.

Across the state, representatives with California-based developer Shangri-La and its nonprofit partner, Step Up on Second, told municipal leaders how they would finance development projects aimed at housing the homeless. But like the promises of late-night ads, the glittery attraction has faded.

This week the city of Asheville pulled the plug on a long-awaited project to convert a motel into housing for people experiencing homelessness. The move came after the partner organizations managing the project were named in a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Winston-Salem has been attached to a similar project with the same partners since 2022. And city leaders say that partnership stands, despite repeated delays. 

"Street medicine" programs, like one in Atlanta, seek out people living in back alleys and under highways. The public health outreach improves patients' health and is cost-effective, hospitals find.

Utah has reduced its chronically homeless population by 91 percent since 2005. But like many places, it lacks affordable housing, leaving more than 14,000 people in the state homeless this year.