How to End Homelessness: The Ten Essentials

Rapid Re-housing


Your community has housing search and housing placement services available to rapidly re-house all people losing their housing or who are homeless and who want permanent housing.

 


One of the primary challenges homeless people face is navigating the housing market. Most communities have a shortage of affordable housing. Consequently, landlords can select the most appealing tenants, many of whom have higher incomes, and require a large sum of cash for a deposit and first and last months rent. There is little incentive for landlords to work with potential tenants who have lower incomes, little savings, credit problems, or unstable housing histories.
Housing placement services can address many of the barriers homeless people face. Effective housing search services often include the following elements:
  • Skilled housing search staff with knowledge of local housing markets and relationships with landlords.
  • Marketing and outreach to landlords.
  • Incentives for landlords to rent to homeless households. 
  •  Assurances to landlords that the housing services agency will assist with landlord/tenant problems. 
  •  Access to subsidies, such as vouchers, for households with extremely low incomes 
  •  Coordination with service providers to ensure that a homeless person’s service needs are met once he or she is in permanent housing. 
  •  Periodic follow-up work to prevent a housing crisis. 
  •  Services to address credit problems.

The skills necessary to effectively place homeless people in private market housing combine those of a realtor and a caseworker. Locating and developing qualified staff is one of the greatest challenges to having an effective housing search and placement system.



Volunteers of America's Home Free: Rapid Re-Housing for Survivors of Domestic Violence

This best practice document profiles Home Free, a domestic violence survivor service agency in Portland, OR that provides an array of services for families impacted by violence. Currently, the program provides rapid re-housing assistance to 80 to 100 households annually. Read More >

Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration Program

Congress allocated $25 million for a Rapid Re-Housing Demonstration to serve homeless families. The experience of the 23 communities that received grants awards under the Demonstration can be an important resource for communities developing Rapid Re-Housing programs to serve families using HPRP or other funding resources. This resource collects information about what the Demonstration grantees are doing. Read More >

Rapid Re-Housing: Creating Programs that Work

The National Alliance to End Homelessness has published this guide to help organizations develop Rapid Re-Housing programs. Read More >

Ten Essentials Toolkit

This Toolkit provides communities with the resources they need to develop plans to end homelessness. Read More >


NEWSLETTER


PODCAST VIDEO Q&A

Nan Roman on National Public Radio

"Some Stimulus Money Preventing Homelessness" Homeless programs are about to get a big push in a new direction. They used to focus on providing food and shelter. Now, the economic stimulus package is providing $1.5 billion to prevent people from becoming homeless and to quickly re-house those who do.
Read More >
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