Homelessness is a circumstance, not an identity. In this episode, Kyle King sits down with Jessica Lefkowitz, Founder and Executive Director of Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition, and Dr. KT Harcourt-Medina, the organization’s Director of Impact and Development, to talk about ending unsheltered homelessness through street outreach, data, and dignity.

Jessica shares why she founded the organization in 2020 and what it means to address homelessness with ethical urgency. KT explains how she turns impact data into stories that move funders and community partners. Together, they talk about supporting outreach staff, breaking down misconceptions, and how Charlotte can come together to help more neighbors find permanent housing.

In this episode:

• Why street outreach and Housing First go hand in hand
• What “ethical urgency” means in the fight to end homelessness
• How Hearts for the Invisible served 755 people and helped achieve 198 permanent housing placements in 2025
• Using data and storytelling to show nonprofit impact
• Supporting front-line staff and preventing burnout
• Misconceptions about people experiencing homelessness
• Another Day in Paradise, an evening of storytelling and impact on November 14

About Jessica: Jessica Lefkowitz founded Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition in 2020 and has grown it into Mecklenburg County’s lead housing-focused street outreach agency. She has served as board chair of the Mecklenburg County Continuum of Care and was recently selected for the 11th edition of Who’s Who in Black Charlotte.

About KT: Dr. KT Harcourt-Medina is Director of Impact and Development at Hearts for the Invisible, with more than 15 years of experience in applied research, data, and program evaluation. She previously led evaluation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s A Home For All strategy at United Way of Greater Charlotte and served as an associate professor at East Carolina University.

Connect:

• Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition
• Email: info@hfticc.org
• Another Day in Paradise, November 14, Independent Picture House, Charlotte

This week’s challenge: The next time you see an unhoused neighbor, see the person first. A kind word, eye contact, or a cold bottle of water can remind someone they still matter.

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