Durham, North Carolina  ·  The Library

Durham Rare & Brief

The Strategic Framework to Make Homelessness Rare and Brief  ·  City of Durham & Durham County

What this is

A library, not a website. It is a shelf for the things we publish — stories from neighbors, assessments of homelessness systems and processes, newsletters, and the foundational documents that outline Durham’s Strategic Framework to Make Homelessness Rare and Brief — so that each one has a home and a link we can send.

Every item here is also a PDF you can download and share.

Stories from neighbors

“It’s a real thing.”

After almost four years outside, James has a Durham apartment, two settling cats, and a morning routine that no longer starts at a Walmart sink.

Told with consent · July 2026

“I’ll show them my keys.”

After about six years in a tent, Rocky has a Durham apartment of his own — and an answer for anyone who doubts this work makes a difference.

Told with consent · June 2026

Sprint assessments

A Sprint Assessment for May–June 2026

How it worked and what we learned. 15 neighbors, 3 encampments, 4 weeks — what the sprint achieved and what we would do differently.

Durham Community Safety Department · Initial assessment, deeper dive to come

System mapping

In December 2025, frontline staff and leadership from across Durham’s homelessness system spent a day mapping how a person actually moves through it. The Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice turned what they said into these two products.

Narrative Summary & Critique of the Baseline Journey Map

What workshop participants said about each phase of the journey — the pain points, the bright spots, the data gaps, and the open questions.

Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice · Revised 8 July 2026

Client Journey Map: Lowest-Barrier Single Adult

The revised map built from that feedback — eight phases, and where clients drop off, get stuck, and what works.

Bellwether Collaborative for Health Justice · July 2026

Newsletters

Rare & Brief — June 2026

The first monthly partner update: Rocky’s keys, the Year 1 targets under assessment, governance in motion, and one ask.

HOPE Team · First edition · June 2026

The Framework

Strategic Framework to Make Homelessness Rare & Brief

The five-year, cross-sector plan: the North Star, the Year 1 targets, the six operational functions, the architecture, and the $13M Year 1 investment.

Durham Community Safety Department · 2026–2031

Strategy Lanes, Milestones, and the Path to 2031

The companion: five strategy lanes, the annual reduction targets by population, and the year-by-year milestones that pace the five-year arc.

Durham Community Safety Department · 2026–2031