City and county leaders gathered Monday to highlight their joint efforts to reduce unsheltered homelessness in the region through a “housing-first” approach.
“We have dramatically reduced the number of people sleeping outside across the city. The number of tents across the city are the lowest they have been in years,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato told people gathered on the Eliza Furnace Trail behind the Allegheny County Jail.
The trail was the site of the last homeless encampment in Pittsburgh’s central business district. Its last residents departed for more permanent shelter earlier this month.
While in the past some camps have been closed using “sweeps,” or forced removal of people, leaders took a new approach with the Eliza Furnace Trail camp closure: The county’s Department of Human Services, members of the city’s Reaching Out on the Streets (ROOTS) team, and other service providers gave individualized housing plans to people living in the camp and connected them to relevant resources and services.
“What once seemed like an insurmountable issue — the issue of the unsheltered homeless — was met with real solutions, was met with dignity, was met with respect. It was met with the way that we should treat all people,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey.
Innamorato attributed the success to the county’s “500 in 500” program, which aims to move people out of shelters and into more permanent, stable housing by creating or identifying 500 units of deeply subsidized housing in 500 days.
As housing and rental costs rise and pandemic-era supports come to an end, more people have turned to emergency shelters and are staying for longer periods — sometimes months instead of weeks. Gainey and Innamorato have argued that leaders need to grow the local affordable housing stock so that people ready to exit shelters have a permanent place to live, rather than focus solely on temporary solutions like emergency housing or additional shelter beds.
More than 270 people have moved into housing since the 500 in 500 initiative was first announced in June 2024, according to county data.
Gainey and Innamorato said this progress, plus the camp closure demonstrates that their “housing-first” approach to addressing homelessness is working. The movement has freed up shelter capacity, providing space for people who would otherwise be living on the streets, Innamorato added.
“We've [shown] proof of concept, and we'll double down on it,” she said.
DHS director Erin Dalton called the Eliza Furnace Trail camp closure “symbolic” of how the county plans to close other camps that crop up.
“We did this without any signs being posted, without the threat of displacement or dislocation, and through housing. Talking to partners around the country, I don't know any other city that's been able to do that,” she said.
MAN-E, the director of the aid group Community Care & Resistance in Pittsburgh, said the moment marks a shift in how homelessness is addressed in the region.
“For too long, encampments have been treated as if it's a problem to be removed rather than a symptom of a broken system. What makes this effort different and what makes it a model of how we move forward is the fact that housing and shelter came first — not displacement, not criminalization, and not empty promises,” he said.
“This is how encampments should be closed: with dignity, with care, and with a commitment to the people who are impacted,” MAN-E said.
“This success proves that we can close encampments without harming those who call them home. It shows us that we can prioritize real solutions over punitive measures. It shows us that housing first is not just a strategy, it's the only way forward.”
