Our Work

The Melville Charitable Trust is the largest foundation in the U.S. exclusively devoted to ending homelessness. Our grantmaking dollars are roughly split between efforts to end homelessness in our home state of Connecticut and in creating a better policy environment at the national level. For over 25 years, we have consistently and strategically invested in proven, lasting, and cost-effective solutions that enable people with the least resources to reclaim their lives. And where solutions have not yet been identified we support exploration and innovation to find the most promising approaches. Given the clear racial disparities of those most likely to experience homelessness, the Trust focuses its work through a racial equity lens, knowing that we will not end homelessness until we prevent and end it for black and brown people.

THE ISSUE OF HOMELESSNESS

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world and yet on any one night, over half a million people don’t have a place to call home. Learn more about the state of homelessness in the U.S. and the promising solutions that will help us end this crisis.

THE ISSUE

New Haven Home

Our Approach

Homelessness is too big and too complex a problem to be approached in silos. At the core of all our grantmaking is a commitment to systems change that:

strengthens relationships between people and between organizations
improves ways of working together
cultivates the public will and leadership to make change happen

Learn more about our funding approach

Our Program Areas

Housing

Housing is key to preventing and ending homelessness. We support efforts to increase the supply of deeply affordable rental housing, expand rental subsidies, and improve access to housing for people who have a history of homelessness.

Health & Support

Staying housed involves more than just paying rent. We support efforts that connect people to the supports they need—financial, medical, legal—that keep them healthy and housed.

Income

Without a stable and decent paying job, the chances of sliding into homelessness are immense. We support approaches that help employ people who have experienced homelessness or are at-risk of becoming homeless.