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Each November, communities across the United States come together for National Homelessness Awareness Month, a time to shed light on one of the nation’s most urgent humanitarian crises. For Cherry Willow Apparel, this month is more than a calendar observance. It is a call to humanize, mobilize, and reimagine what community looks like when compassion becomes collective action.
Today, more than half a million people in America experience homelessness on any given night. Behind that number are families, veterans, youth, and individuals who have lost not only their homes, but often their access to dignity, opportunity, and belonging. This piece explores why awareness is only the first step and why now, more than ever, we need to translate it into lasting impact.
The growing scope of the crisis
Homelessness in the United States is not a new problem, but it has reached a modern high. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, 653,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2023, the highest figure since the current methodology began. That number includes families with children, unaccompanied youth, veterans, and people experiencing chronic homelessness.
Several converging forces accelerated this reality over the past few years. Rents rose faster than wages. The supply of truly affordable homes failed to keep pace with need. Behavioral health care remains difficult to access in too many communities. And household budgets have been strained by inflation and the long tail of pandemic disruptions. These structural realities are not just statistics. They are the daily experiences of people doing everything right and still struggling to keep a roof overhead.
Awareness Month offers an opportunity to confront these truths head on and move the public conversation from why it happens to how we fix it.
Why awareness alone is not enough
Raising awareness is essential, but it is not the destination. For too long, campaigns centered on visibility without translating empathy into measurable change. What makes this year different is a cultural shift toward responsibility. Communities, nonprofits, and brands are refusing to look away and are choosing to act.
At Cherry Willow Apparel, awareness becomes action through wearable advocacy. Every collection is designed to start a conversation that leads somewhere, toward funding local partners, supporting wraparound services, and creating collaborations that directly connect people to resources. Explore our mission and approach on the Mission page and see how apparel purchases support impact through the Shop.
Awareness must evolve into accountability. When people wear a Cherry Willow design, they are helping build a bridge between compassion and tangible solutions.
Storytelling with dignity
One of the most powerful tools during National Homelessness Awareness Month is storytelling. When we humanize the issue, we dismantle stigma and open doors to help. Consider the person sleeping in a car while holding a full time job, or the parent choosing between rent and medical care. These are not isolated stories. They reflect a system out of balance.
Cherry Willow Apparel’s partnerships and events model the kind of storytelling in motion that invites people to participate. Our Pedal for Progress journey, for example, was designed to raise funds, elevate partner organizations, and spark conversations that change minds.
When stories center people and emphasize agency, audiences see resilience, not failure, and they ask what it would take to make stability possible.
The policy and economics behind the urgency
Homelessness is not inevitable. It is the result of policy choices. Shortages of affordable homes, restrictive zoning that limits housing options, and underfunded safety nets have created environments where people can fall through the cracks faster than systems can catch them.
The affordable housing gap is well documented. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates a national shortage of more than 7 million affordable and available rental homes for extremely low income households. Only 35 such homes exist for every 100 households that need them.
The implications are straightforward. When rents outpace wages and supply is scarce, more people are cost burdened, more families are one crisis away from losing housing, and more neighbors face the trauma of homelessness. In this context, Awareness Month becomes an invitation to ask a deeper question. What kind of society do we want to build? One that measures success only in output and profit, or one that includes human well being as a primary outcome?
A blueprint of collaboration
Homelessness is a collective issue. It requires collective solutions. Across the country, communities are proving that when diverse organizations work together, change happens faster and reaches deeper.
Cherry Willow Apparel’s collaboration model blends commerce, community, and compassion. We partner with nonprofits to create co branded advocacy wear and then direct the majority of profits back to partner missions. You can see the philosophy throughout our site, including the Mission overview and our latest Impact blog posts that unpack policy and program solutions. For topical deep dives, read our recent posts on How Zoning Laws Contribute to the Housing Crisis and Harm Reduction and Housing First.
This is a different kind of philanthropy. It is not about one organization doing everything. It is about everyone doing something in a coordinated way.
What the research says about solutions
The field has learned a lot in the past two decades about what works.
Housing First approaches that quickly connect people to permanent housing with supportive services have been shown to improve housing stability and reduce returns to homelessness. Harm reduction strategies meet people where they are and create safer pathways to recovery. Strong local Continuum of Care systems coordinate outreach, shelter, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing. National resources make these strategies possible. For a clear overview, explore the National Alliance to End Homelessness State of Homelessness resources and their guidance on getting help.
On the federal side, HUD’s Homelessness Assistance resources explain how communities use Emergency Solutions Grants and other programs to help people regain stability. For direct local help and program navigation, HUD’s Homeless Help page is the right starting point.
Policy progress depends on understanding the housing supply side as well. For the big picture on the shortage of affordable homes and state by state data, see NLIHC’s The Gap 2024 report and downloadable report PDF.
The role of businesses in social change
Corporate social responsibility is no longer optional. Yet too often, companies limit engagement to seasonal donations. Awareness Month is an opportunity to redefine what business driven impact looks like. Imagine if every company made homelessness a shared priority, not through pity, but through partnership. Employers can create jobs with supportive pathways, fund local housing initiatives, and build awareness into everyday products.
At Cherry Willow Apparel, that philosophy is embedded in our collections. Apparel can fuel change by carrying messages that build empathy and by generating revenue that supports community partners. If you want to support these efforts directly, explore the Shop to see advocacy wear that funds impact.
Technology, data, and a vision for what comes next
Ending homelessness also requires better tools. Communities benefit when they can see service gaps in real time, match people to resources faster, and measure outcomes more clearly. Cherry Willow Apparel’s sister tech initiatives aim to support nonprofits and local governments with dashboards and digital resource mapping so that every dollar and volunteer hour stretches further.
Compassion and innovation belong together. With better data and coordinated outreach, communities can stabilize people faster and prevent homelessness in the first place.
How you can make a difference this month
National Homelessness Awareness Month invites everyone to take part. Here are meaningful ways to engage right now.
- Educate yourself and others
Share credible national sources like HUD’s AHAR landing page and NLIHC’s The Gap overview. These are accessible starting points for data driven conversations. - Support local providers
Donate funds, hygiene items, clothing, or time to organizations in your community. If you are unsure where to start, use HUD’s Homeless Help page to find local contacts. - Shop with purpose
When you purchase from Cherry Willow Apparel, you support partners and programs that serve people experiencing homelessness. Visit the Shop to browse current collaborations and pieces that spark conversation and fund impact. - Learn about policy solutions
If you want a deeper dive into how land use policy shapes outcomes, read our explainer How Zoning Laws Contribute to the Housing Crisis. For a primer on evidence based service models, read Harm Reduction and Housing First. - Use your voice
Call or email local officials in support of policies that expand affordable housing, protect tenants, and increase access to services. Share a link to National Alliance to End Homelessness resources when you invite others to learn alongside you.
A call to humanize, not otherize
National Homelessness Awareness Month reminds us that empathy is not seasonal. It is a daily practice and a way of seeing and valuing others. The work to end homelessness begins with awareness, but it does not end there. It continues in every action we take, every story we share, and every time we choose to see the person before the problem.
At Cherry Willow Apparel, we believe that awareness is the seed, and action is the soil where change grows. As this month unfolds, may we all commit to planting something that lasts. Choose to volunteer, choose to advocate, choose to collaborate, and choose to wear your values.
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