Stopping Homelessness Before It Starts
Families facing homelessness ask themselves endless worrying questions: What happens if we lose our home? Where will we go? How will it affect our kids? Today’s affordable housing shortage, uncertain economy, and slowing labor market only add to the confusion and stress and make the prospect of recovery daunting to families in crisis.
But what if they didn’t have to ask any of these questions?
The value of preventing the trauma of homelessness or a shelter experience led Family Promise to develop programming specifically designed to support families at the first sign of a housing crisis. Assistance with landlord mediation, lease agreements, rent and utilities, career development, and other supports offered through Family Promise’s prevention program enable families to meet an emerging crisis head on and quickly regain stability. A growing number of families (more than 50,000 over the past five years) have found the support and resources they need through this initiative.
Now, to meet increased demand and provide sustainable options for more families at risk of homelessness, Family Promise is helping its locations across the country expand prevention programming using a model that can be scaled for any community.
Affordability vs. Accessibility
In the three short years since launching a prevention program, Family Promise of Wayne County in Lyons, NY, has supported 50 households annually with prevention services. While the cost of living in the Finger Lakes Region is below the national average, families still face economic hardship. According to Executive Director Evonne Pomerantz, the housing market is reasonable, but low employment and lack of transportation are significant challenges that make housing inaccessible to low-income families. Pomerantz and her team intercede before a family loses their home, helping them build skills and access resources that ensure long-term stability.
“Prevention work allows us to serve more families,” Pomerantz says. “We’ll work with families and landlords to work out a plan so families don’t have to deal with an eviction.”
A grant through Family Promise’s national partnership with manufactured home builder Clayton earlier this year has augmented their prevention work. And prevention programming has helped raise awareness of family homelessness in the community, which has led to increased support from local businesses.
When Doing Everything Right Isn’t Enough
Recognizing a surge in calls about imminent evictions, Family Promise of Carbon County in Nesquehoning, PA, is another site that recently launched prevention services.
“It was a little slow going at first connecting with landlords and property managers,” recalls Executive Director Cathy Lamm. “But they quickly realized Family Promise is there for families and landlords alike. People are happy to work with us when they see the effort being made to help everyone succeed.”
Considered a resort area, rural Carbon County, nestled in the Pocono Mountains, isn’t immune to inflation. Affordable housing inventory is low. Lamm says property management firms have converted many homes into pricey vacation units. And like communities across the country, salaries simply haven’t kept pace with rising costs, hindering the ability for many to make ends meet.
“Most of the time, families are doing everything right. They’re working, but it’s not enough to support a family,” Lamm notes.
The prevention program stops the domino effect a single emergency can have on low-income families that can culminate in homelessness.
“By intervening before things become a major crisis, we help families get back on track as quickly as possible,” says Lamm. “A lot of the time, the kids never even realize there was an issue. That’s a positive outcome.”
The program’s impact is illustrated by one mom’s testimony, as shared by Pomerantz, whose words encapsulate the transformative journey so many families experience: “Thanks to Family Promise, we did what we set out to do – give our family a home.”