After posting this piece about the homeless and email I found out about an initiative in Winston-Salem called the "10 Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness."  The executive summary has some interesting information:

• "Approximately 1,800 people experience homelessness in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County each year. Twenty percent are families; around 200 are children."
• "The Ten Year Plan calls for a “housing first” approach that emphasizes placing individuals and families who are homeless in safe and affordable housing as an immediate response to their crisis and then ensuring that the necessary supports are in place to sustain that housing. The Plan recognizes that access to housing is a basic human need that should not be conditioned on external measures of client readiness, such as employment, sobriety, or willingness to accept treatment. Housing First is premised on the belief that the underlying causes of homelessness can be more effectively addressed once a person is housed. And, in fact, research shows that people are most successful at addressing issues that often contribute to homelessness such as unemployment, serious mental illness, and addiction when their housing is stabilized first and supportive services are then offered to promote housing stability."
• "For a system to fully and effectively address homelessness it must include a range of housing and service strategies that are tailored to meet the diverse needs experienced by individuals and families who become homeless—strategies that are firmly grounded in an understanding
  of how those needs vary according to whether homelessness is transitional or chronic in nature. To succeed, the existing homeless service system must alter its approach from one that responds to all individuals experiencing homelessness in similar ways, to one that differentiates between services for persons with short-term needs and those requiring long-term support."

The full report can be found here and if you want more information the contact they provide is:
Tim West
Winston-Salem Housing/Neighborhood Development Department
(336) 727-8597 • timw@cityofws.org