Nooze Hounds: Jessica Lefkowitz, Hearts for the Invisible

On episode 104 of the Nooze Hounds podcast, Ryan talks to Jessica Lefkowitz, founder and executive director of Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition, providing street outreach for individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

On the episode, Lefkowitz discusses how she grew the group from a grassroots effort to the lead agency for street outreach in Mecklenburg County and what it means to put a focus on mental health when serving people experiencing homelessness.

Lefkowitz first got involved in this work during the pandemic when an encampment referred to by many as “Tent City” began to form along East 12th Street bordering Uptown, bringing the issue of homelessness in Charlotte to the forefront of people’s minds. After going out to help her neighbors once, Lefkowitz knew she had to do more, as she explains on the podcast, and began building what would become Hearts for the Invisible.

Learn more about how you can help by donating or volunteering here.

In 2025, Lefkowitz was named Local Hero in Queen City Nerve’s Best in the Nest issue. Our entry explaining why was as follows:

“As founder and executive director of the Hearts for the Invisible Charlotte Coalition, Jessica Lefkowitz strategically spearheads all of street outreach efforts involving people struggling with homelessness through Mecklenburg County. That means that as the county staff and commissioners are discussing these issues in their offices and chambers, Lefkwotiz and her team are out there helping folks living through the struggle.

While the tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska at the hands of a mentally disturbed unhoused man on the light rail in August led local and state officials to point fingers and proclaim that Charlotte was “soft on crime,” Hearts for the Invisible has been on the frontlines in helping to roll out the county’s new Wellness Without Walls program.

The groundbreaking street psychiatry pilot program connects unhoused neighbors directly with mental health care, getting to the heart of an issue that many leaders would rather turn the other cheek to while spouting off about more policing and stricter sentencing.

Teaming up with United Way of Greater Charlotte, Roof Above and Atrium Health, the Hearts for the Invisible Coalition provides that on-the-ground expertise that would make Wellness Without Walls impossible to properly implement without.“

Related Reading: 

• • Opinion: Tent City Isn’t New, It’s Newly Visible – by Adrienne Threatt (2021)
  • Nooze Hounds: No Limit Larry and Adrienne Threatt Talk Homelessness in Charlotte (2021)
  • Ed Note: The Crisis Doesn’t Disappear with Tent City – by Ryan Pitkin (2021)
  • Nooze Hounds: Affordable Housing and Homelessness in Charlotte (2023)
  • Atrium Launches Care Everywhere Program to Serve Homeless Population (2026)

You can catch us on Spotify and other places where you find podcasts and be sure to check out Queen City Podcast Network for a slew of other great Charlotte podcasts that aren’t quite as good as ours but pretty damn close. Find past Nooze Hounds episodes here.