by Nan Roman

Thanks to The Soloist, the American public got a glimpse of the complexities, difficulties and frustrations presented when homelessness and mental illness intersect. The remarkable story of Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez and musically-gifted Nathaniel Ayers undoubtedly caused a stir in the hearts and minds of many Americans.

But Nathaniel Ayers represents only one portion of the homeless population. While there are growing – and increasingly successful – local efforts to get more and more disabled, chronically homeless people like Mr. Ayers into housing with the necessary services, the rates of other kinds of homelessness are on the rise.

And it’s getting worse. People across the country – seized by debt, unemployment, and the rising cost of living – have to make difficult choices between rent, food and other essentials for themselves and their families. Every day, we see more and more people pushed into homelessness. Today, approximately 700,000 people are homeless; the National Alliance to End Homelessness (the Alliance) predicts that one million more people may become homeless by the end of the recession.

The time to act is now – and the solutions are real.

In 2000, the Alliance proposed a bold idea: a 10-year plan to end homelessness. Since that time, nonprofit organizations, community groups, cities and counties, and government agencies have kicked that plan into gear. And this is what we have learned:

1) Permanent supportive housing is the primary solution to chronic homelessness.
Numerous studies show that permanent supportive housing (affordable housing with services) is not only the key to ending chronic homelessness, but that it can be significantly less costly than the maintenance systems currently in place. One recent study found that providing supportive permanent housing to homeless people with alcohol abuse problems saved taxpayers more than $4 million over the first year of operation.

2) Our next step is protecting families.
Homelessness among families is all too common in the United States – and growing. On any given night, nearly 100,000 families are homeless. Nearly ten years ago, federal and local entities committed themselves to ending chronic homelessness – and their tenacity yielded measurable results. We must commit the same resolve and resources to ending homelessness for America’s families.

3) We can make real changes in how we address this crisis.
As part of the nearly $800 billion economy recovery package, Congress approved the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP ). HPRP is designed to help communities provide financial assistance and services to prevent homelessness and help those experiencing homelessness to be quickly re-housed and stabilized .

On May 20, President Obama signed into law the “Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing” (HEARTH) Act. The legislation was the first significant overhaul in nearly 20 years of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance programs – the largest portion of the federal commitment to combating homelessness.

We have learned, through study after study, through pilot programs and projects, that homelessness is a solvable problem. But it requires our strength, investment, and will to make it a priority.

The country is at a crossroads, facing great challenges and immense opportunity. Right now, we all share the same economic challenges; we share the same hopes for a renewed future. Now is the time for us to recommit to the promise of ending homelessness for all. This is a chance for us to make great progress toward this goal. Let’s seize this moment to pick up the pace on our common journey home.

Nan Roman is the President and CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness.