Homelessness is an emergency that too often remains unseen within a community. But communities in Built for Zero are proving homelessness is solvable when we change how communities see and respond to the issue.
Rocket Mortgage, one of the core partners of Built for Zero, is showcasing these efforts in a national campaign, which launched this week.
This is the fourth year Rocket Mortgage has created a campaign raising awareness about homelessness. “The Unseen Emergency” describes how community emergencies that are visible can be fixed abruptly, but that the full scope of homelessness can often be unseen. This powerful piece shines a light on the systems approach communities in Built for Zero are taking to ensure everyone experiencing homelessness are known, in real time, and connected with the urgent support needed to end homelessness.
“Homelessness is solvable,” said Mary Scott, an Administrative Analyst for the Bakersfield Homeless Center, Alliance Against Family Violence & Sexual Assault in California. “We just need to fix and repair our system and we are working towards that.”
Watch Mary Scott share the importance of addressing the urgency of homelessness
Scott, whose community is part of Built for Zero, is featured in a behind-the-scenes interview. Bakersfield, located in Kern County, California, achieved functional zero for chronic homelessness in March 2020. This milestone was achieved by the collaborative efforts of their community.
“Until we actually make it a personal problem and we look at these people as our neighbors, these are things that are going to be seen as unseen emergencies,” Scott said.
“I feel like housing is a human right. I just want these people to no longer be invisible and work as a team and look at these people as our neighbors.”
