Supportive housing

Introduction to supportive housing and notes from the field

The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless created the Denver Housing First Collaborative (DHFC) in 2003 with funding provided by a collaboration of federal agencies.

Everyone needs safe, decent, stable housing. For some of the most vulnerable people in America — people with mental illness, chronic health conditions, histories of trauma, and other struggles — a home helps them to get adequate treatment and start on the path toward recovery.

Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions that affect health outcomes and are the underlying, contributing factors of health inequities. Examples include housing, educational attainment, employment and the environment.

Through the hard work of communities around the country, we now have proof of something that we didn’t before—that ending homelessness is achievable.