From Streets to Stability: A Bold Plan to Transform Homelessness in Greensboro

As Greensboro enters 2025, the city faces mounting challenges in addressing homelessness, an issue that has persisted despite well-meaning efforts by city officials, nonprofits, and advocacy groups. Nicky Smith, a candidate for Greensboro City Council, calls for a fresh, innovative approach to tackling homelessness and revitalizing the city’s strategy as homelessness hits a new record in a 2024 report.

The Current Landscape

The past year saw mixed progress. The city’s efforts to amend ordinances regulating public spaces were intended to address business owners’ concerns about harassment and disturbances. While these measures garnered support from some quarters, they faced criticism for potentially criminalizing homelessness without addressing its root causes.

Meanwhile, Greensboro made strides in securing transitional and supportive housing properties, including the Regency Inn and the Summit Executive Center. However, delays, strained relationships with key partners like the Interactive Resource Center (IRC), and sporadic progress on implementing permanent supportive housing underscore the complexity of the problem.

Nicky Smith’s Bold Vision

Nicky Smith believes Greensboro needs a compassionate yet results-driven strategy that emphasizes housing, education, employment, and dignity for its homeless population. His proposed framework includes:

1. Temporary Housing Solutions with Dignity
   Smith advocates for the rapid establishment of safe, well-managed temporary housing to immediately get people off the streets. This includes retrofitting existing properties, such as motels and unused commercial buildings, to provide clean and secure shelter.

2. Permanent Supportive Housing with a Twist
   While permanent supportive housing remains a cornerstone of the solution, Smith envisions a model incorporating on-site vocational training centers. These centers would provide trade education, aligning with Greensboro’s strong community college and technical school networks.

3. Workforce Development Programs
   A key component of Smith’s plan is connecting the homeless with opportunities to acquire trade skills. Partnerships with local businesses, trade schools, and apprenticeship programs would create pathways to employment, empowering individuals to rebuild their lives.

4. Increased Collaboration with Nonprofits and Advocacy Groups
   Smith aims to foster collaboration among organizations like the Keep Gate City Housed and others. He believes unified efforts are essential for maximizing the impact of available resources.

5. Accountability and Metrics
   Smith proposes clear metrics to track housing placements, job training enrollments, and reductions in unsheltered homelessness to ensure progress. Transparency in reporting these metrics would help maintain public trust and focus on outcomes.

Why Act Now?

Greensboro’s growing reputation as a magnet for the homeless underscores the urgency of taking meaningful action. Business owners are voicing concerns, residents are calling for safer streets, and advocacy groups are pushing for tenant protections. Without decisive action, these pressures risk creating deeper divisions in the community.

Nicky Smith’s approach offers a chance to unify stakeholders and tackle homelessness with compassion and pragmatism. By addressing the immediate need for shelter while investing in long-term solutions like education and employment, Greensboro can set a powerful example for other cities grappling with similar challenges.

Looking Ahead

The big question for 2025 remains: Will Greensboro make tangible progress on homelessness? Nicky Smith’s vision provides a roadmap, but its success will depend on the community’s and its leaders’ collective will. Greensboro has an opportunity to turn its challenges into a model of innovation and humanity. Whether that happens is now up to its leaders—and its voters.

Let’s build the future our city deserves. Greensboro is ready for a new era—let’s get to work.