Common Ground is a nonprofit social services organization. It provides housing for the homeless and others. Their philosophy holds that housing costs less than homeless shelters. It also costs many times less than jail cells or hospital rooms, They also believe that people with psychiatric and other problems can better manage them once they have a place to live. It was started in 1990 by Rosanne Haggerty. Since then the organization has created more than 2,000 units of housing for the homeless. "This is about creating a small town, rather than just a building," according to Haggerty. "It’s about a real mixed society, working with many different people."