CEO Corner: Week of November 10, 2026

Homelessness is Down for the Second Consecutive Year. You Made It Happen. 

Earlier this year, the Alliance team noticed that as 2026 Point-In-Time (PIT) Count data were being released, many of the announcements were…good news. As we tracked the PIT results, it became clear a downward trend was emerging in the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January as compared to 2025. 

We also heard concerns from people around the nation who quietly expressed frustration in the federal government’s inability to get data out on time: 2025 was about 6 months late, System Performance Measure data has not been posted yet for 2025, and an AHAR Part 2 has not been released since 2022. More importantly folks were starting to question the integrity of the data that HUD may eventually release. They were worried that it could be manipulated or politicized.  

They asked if we could do our own report. After weighing several factors, we decided to do just that. Outcomes of the 2026 PIT Count would be helpful to us, to Congress, and to the field. An analysis of our own would allow us to come to our own conclusions about what the data meant and how it should inform our actions going forward. After working on the analysis over the summer, we planned the release for yesterday, November 9.  

On Friday, a reporter we had previewed our analysis with asked HUD for comment in the normal course of business. We were surprised a few hours later to see a press release from HUD. No population or subpopulation data. No analysis. No Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress. Just the topline data and an disingenuous explanation about causes – for data points that should have been good news to them. They should have been celebrating the success of their programs, but instead used the opportunity to malign service providers, blame proven strategies, and spread misinformation about undocumented people. 

Instead, they chose to double down even after the Administration’s punitive and cruel policies were soundly rejected by most of America in last week’s mid-terms. This was a chance after the mid-terms to thank each of you for your hard work and to go down a different path. As a former federal official, I am embarrassed that they didn’t take it. 

Homelessness is a real human problem that disproportionately impacts vulnerable people including people with disabilities, seniors, families with kids and veterans. We deserve serious discourse on this issue, and to know the truth. In a separate blog released today, Norm Suchar, the Alliance’s new Senior Advisor, breaks down the data and why 2026 is an important year. 

But beyond the actual numbers, the truth is this:

• Front line staff and community leaders worked incredibly hard a to realize these declines. 
• Rental housing markets stabilized – not to pre-pandemic levels, but stabilized – including vacancy rates and rents in many communities.  
• Natural disaster recovery and a decline in the number of asylum seekers impacted the numbers, but don’t account for the broader declines across many populations and subpopulations.  
• Veteran homelessness has been reduced by an astonishing 60% offering further proof that what we are doing is working. 
• We need a lot more safe and affordable housing for people with extremely low incomes, and we need more access to – not cuts in – services provided through Medicaid that include health care, mental health supports and substance use treatment. 

Our analysis is a call on Congress to fund what works, allow for innovation, and not be fooled by the Administration’s rhetoric. As you consider your advocacy priorities for this month, I urge you to join the Alliance in our National Day of Action and Keep People Home on November 18 to tell your Congressional delegation that story about your community. 

As I wrap up this edition, I want to express how proud I am of this field and the tremendous work you do every day. Your work saved lives each and every day, and I hope that you feel a sense of ownership in these reductions. 

Your work – together with sustained advocacy to our elected leaders – is how we maintain our current momentum as a nation and ultimately meet the goal of ending homelessness in the United States.