414 Families
United Way recently announced $300,000 worth of special grants in the area of rapid re-entry housing. I’m not sure
Andrea Ferstan, Community Impact Manager
exactly how that works, so I decided to get the skinny from one of our in-house experts, Andrea Ferstan, Community Impact Manager for Basic Needs.
Andrea: Rapid Re-housing is an innovative and cost-effective approach to secure stable housing for homeless families. Re-housing programs work with people who are recently homeless to help them quickly move into rental housing.
Rapid Re-housing includes:
- Comprehensive screening of families to ensure success
- Support to locate and maintain affordable rental housing
- Short-term rental subsidies while the family transitions
- Connections to needed resources for families addressing multiple challenges such as health care or child care
Is this something new in the Twin Cities?
Andrea: Rapid Re-housing builds on the success of Rapid Exit, a proven best practice that started in Hennepin County. The Rapid Exit model includes:
- Central screening of all families within three days of shelter admission to determine housing barriers.
- Barrier rating (level of difficulty in getting and keeping housing).
- Referral to a Rapid Exit nonprofit for immediate re-housing in the private housing market.
The Rapid Exit direct service staff have successfully been re-housing families with little to no (rental) subsidy until recently, when higher rents and a weakening job market have made this more difficult. In Hennepin County, 72% of families entering the shelter are aided through the Rapid Exit program and 95% of those families remain housed 12 months later. Savings to Hennepin County has been in the millions of dollars.
Rapid Re-entry builds on this model, adding temporary rental subsidies to help families get settled and back on their feet.
Given current economic realities and the scope of the recession, $300,000 doesn’t seem like a lot of money. How many people do you think United Way can help with $300,000?
Andrea: Greater Twin Cities United Way’s investment of $300,000, leveraged with other resources, will result in 414 families moving out of the shelter and into permanent housing. Greater Twin Cities United Way is hosting a Rapid-Re-housing event tomorrow (6/26/09). Learn more.
I think it’s cool that Greater Twin Cities United Way has issued a special challenge today to 9 community members to raise $9,000 in 9 hours. All to get two families out of a homeless shelter and stabillized through the rapid rehousing initiatives. Check out their progress at http://www.liveunitedtc.org or follow Twitter updates @LiveUnitedTC
I don’t quite get the math. 300,000 can move 414 families. That’s $725 per family. Meanwhile, you raise $9,000 on 6/26 to move 2 families. That’s $4,500 per family. I can see there being economies of scale, but a factor of over 6? Just wondering …
Steve, Thanks for your comment and question. I asked Andrea for clarification, and this is what I learned: The cost of rapid re-housing varies greatly by family and also by program. Depending on the needs and barriers the family is experiencing, it can cost as little as $200 and as much as several thousand (think of a family that just needs assistance with finding housing and a little help with the damage deposit vs. a family needing help with the entire damage deposit plus first and last months’ rent, and ongoing rent support while they acquire skills to move into a higher-wage job).
The Nine Ways families not only needed greater financial support at the outset, they are also provided up to 18 months of rental assistance support compared to 6 months of rental assistance through the rapid re-housing special grants.