Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition, the nonprofit that leads street outreach for people living outside across Mecklenburg County, is staring down a hard deadline. With COVID-era relief grants that helped power its recent expansion expiring in April, the group says the remaining grant and government money keeping teams on the street will dry up by June 30, putting outreach workers and housing placements in jeopardy.
Nonprofit says numbers climbed after 2023 boost
Founder and Executive Director Jessica Lefkowitz says Hearts for the Invisible, launched in 2020 and scaled up after county ARPA and COVID relief funding arrived in 2023, has helped about 415 people move into stable housing and served nearly 1,800 neighbors, according to the Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition impact page. As Spectrum News reported, Lefkowitz said that core grant support ended in April and that the nonprofit expects its remaining funds to run out at the end of June.
County ARPA money built the outreach team
Mecklenburg County used American Rescue Plan Act dollars to launch a countywide street outreach effort and directed funding to Hearts for the Invisible in 2023, according to Mecklenburg County. Local coverage by WBTV reported that roughly $650,000 in ARPA funds helped create a multidisciplinary outreach team that was meant to boost capacity and coordinate services with other nonprofits and agencies.
City budget adds a one-time allocation
In its FY2026 budget adjustments, City Council carved out a $100,000 one-time discretionary grant for Hearts for the Invisible, according to City of Charlotte budget documents. The money comes from ARPA revenue replacement and other one-time sources and is intended as a short-term boost, not ongoing operating support, which means it does not fully solve the looming gap.
Street teams report quick wins and heavy lifting
Outreach staff and partner organizations say the work shows up in real, visible ways. Spectrum reported that Hearts and its collaborators recently helped a single mother and her three children move into a townhome after months of outreach, and that the group celebrated getting two families into stable housing earlier this week. "As far as I know, they had been sleeping in a vehicle and migrating around various parts of Mecklenburg for several months," Outreach Addiction Specialist Jonelle Harris Davis told Spectrum News.
Local numbers underscore rising need
Mecklenburg County's Housing & Homelessness dashboard recorded 2,589 people experiencing homelessness on December 31, 2025, and local reporting put the active count at about 2,482 as of March 31, 2026. Those figures come from the Mecklenburg County Housing & Homelessness dashboard and reporting by the Charlotte Observer, which has highlighted both rising demand and shrinking shelter capacity across the county.
What organizers are asking for
Leaders at Hearts say they are courting businesses, homeowners associations and foundations for bridge funding while they chase additional public support. The nonprofit's website lists donation and volunteer options on the Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition page. Advocates say recent city and county budget moves offer some relief, but warn that stable operating dollars will be necessary if outreach teams are going to keep working at their current pace.
Organizers say the next six weeks will be critical in determining whether street outreach can continue at its current scale, and the coalition plans to keep teams in the field while it hunts for funding. For now, the shortfall is exposing a larger question about how Charlotte pays for its homelessness response, one that local officials, nonprofits and donors will have to sort out together.
