City and nonprofit officials on Wednesday described how investments in homelessness prevention, diversion and rapid‑exit programs are intended to reduce inflow into the homeless system, shorten stays in shelter, and save taxpayer dollars.

David Gray, director of the Homeless Strategy Office, told the Public Health Committee these upstream strategies—emergency rental and utility assistance, landlord mediation, short‑term case management and quick financial moves—are “much more cost effective compared to shelter and rapid rehousing.” He stated typical prevention/diversion interventions are a one‑time cost of $2,000–$3,000 versus an estimated $24,000 annual cost per shelter bed and $35,000–$40,000 per unit for rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing.

Gray spotlighted two programs: Wayfinder, administered by Sunrise Navigation Center, and the Housing Connector landlord engagement program. He said the city seeded Wayfinder with about $500,000; Sunrise raised roughly another $500,000 in private funding. According to Gray, Wayfinder served just over 950 individuals in fiscal 2025; the average household size reported was 2.1 and more than 440 children were rehoused through the program’s first 11 months. Gray said the program’s average cost per household move‑in is about $1,700 and less than $800 per person. He also said “to date, 94 of those clients who were served in this program have remained housed and have not returned to homelessness,” and that Wayfinder has become a leading source of rehousing since its launch.

Pastor Mark Helblink, executive director of Sunrise, told the committee Wayfinder relies heavily on a centralized hotline and expanding digital access points to identify and activate households quickly; he said the hotline took about 5,000 calls in one month and that staff often find a unit and complete a move‑in in the same day. Helblink estimated that with roughly $5 million annually, programs like Wayfinder could potentially house a substantial share of people seen unsheltered, subject to eligibility and capacity constraints; he described the program as most suitable for households with some current or near‑term income.

Housing Connector, Gray said, focuses on recruiting landlords and operating an emergency housing fund. The office capitalized Housing Connector with about $600,000 for move‑in assistance and related costs. Gray said Housing Connector has directly housed 40 residents and facilitated about 100 additional placements through its fund; officials reported the program has recruited about 40 properties that together represent a commitment to roughly 8,000 units citywide, though Gray noted only about 150 units were actively listed on the platform at the time of the briefing. He said units identified through Housing Connector typically move people into housing in about 15 days—compared with a previously reported median of roughly 400 days from initial assessment to move‑in in the broader coordinated‑entry HMIS data.

Officials characterized prevention and diversion as trauma‑informed, faster pathways for households who are newly unhoused or at imminent risk, and as a way to preserve shelter capacity for people with the highest needs. Gray said prevention and diversion interventions help keep families in their communities, minimize displacement, and are intended to be a cost‑efficient complement to continued investment in shelter and permanent supportive housing.

Committee members asked for additional performance details, including Housing Connector retention rates and the capacity of identified landlord properties; Gray said some data were not immediately available and would be provided later. Several council members urged scaling the programs and asked for continued reporting via public dashboards that will include prevention and diversion metrics.