We don't share enough here about the day-to-day social services we provide to individuals in crisis: emergency shelter grants, utility and food assistance, and social work services.

One great program that we have been able to host this year is Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by way of the Jefferson County Equal Employment Opportunity Office (JCCEO). This program allows our full-time social worker Jeff Bowman to assist families who were recently evicted from their homes or are facing homelessness due to job loss to find housing stability and employment.

What does homelessness prevention mean for the families who are served? "It means they actually never set foot in a shelter. They never had to set foot on the streets to receive the help they needed...The best thing we can do for a young child is make sure they are never homeless in the first place," says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

The program is structured so that families receive assistance and counseling over the mid- to long-term, with clients staying in the program for anywhere from 3 to 18 months to achieve stability. We have seen this program make a real impact in our own community.

• 252 people have received housing assistance through our Homelessness Prevention funds and emergency assistance program since last August - 130 children and 95 adults.
• All of the heads of households currently enrolled in HPRP have been able to find steady employment. 
• After 4 months in the program, most families are able to pay more than 75% of their own expenses. By the time they exit the program, clients have acheived financial stability. 

That number does not begin to count the hundreds of people served through HPRP in other local and state agencies. Yesterday, it was announced that HPRP has helped one million people nationwide:

We feel blessed to be a part of a great program that has helped so many in our own community and around the country. To learn more about HPRP, visit our page on Homelessness Prevention, JCCEO's website or HUD.