12.12.14 Landlords Part of the Solution to Homelessness
I recently saw an article about a nearby county working to end homelessness through a program called SideWalk 100. The idea and the result was moving 100 people off the streets and out of shelters and into permanent housing over a year, starting with a few local faith community leaders and a couple hundred volunteers.
SideWalk uses an approach called rapid re-housing, offering small pre-paid rental subsidies to assist placement, combined with intensive case management to ensure stability. In this areas $1,200 in rental assistance takes a person off the street.
In our state homelessness is down 25-30%. This program and the cooperation of landlords has contributed to that success.
So, what would it take for you to participate in the program? How much rental criteria (job, prior rental history, credit) would you be willing to overlook to place people in this program? I like the idea that this is a one time monetary gift, that the on-going support is non-monetary and they have to make it work rather than get a complete and on-going hand out. I love the idea of using trained grassroots volunteers to counsel and monitor the participants; if they are coming to the housing and making suggestions that help them stay in the unit longer (through payments, care, and obeying the rules), that is a win. I also like the idea of a subsidy. I’d like to understand how the payment is split. If I have a$500 unit, ideally I’d like $800-900 to go toward a healthy deposit and the remaining $$300-400 would go toward first month’s rent. But the chances that they could pay rent on their own that quickly or set up and pay utility accounts seems slim, so is the subsidy enough to entice landlords?
We currently have one tenant on a local non-profit program. He can’t work, the program pays his rent to us each month. He would not have qualified on his own merit, the program got him accepted. He gets counseling at their office, not in his home. Our only concern is that there is no predetermined end date to the assistance, so how soon and what happens when they stop paying his rent.
Interesting to contemplate different solutions to our growing poverty problem.
Comments (4)
@Al Williamson , I totally respect what you're saying. I find it so much easier to be engaged and on the forefront when I'm working on revitalization and relationship building in the larger neighborhood and I don't have as much to gain or lose as when I have my landlord hat on. My tenants and properties are a bit too close to be objective and full of grace and love. :)
Michele Fischer, over 9 years ago
@Michele Fischer thanks for sharing the concept. You're braver than me - for sure.
Please let us know how your experience turns out.
For me, every single time I've used my rentals to help someone, I've been burned. I help in other ways now - I just no longer put my family's income at risk.
It took me 18 years to arrive at this conclusion, but I hope your experience is different.
Al Williamson, over 9 years ago
Max M., over 9 years ago
As long as people and society remain corrupt there is no real large scale solution. People in the local area better be prepared to get together and work to change things locally if they don't like the way things are. These are band-aid solutions. I've been in homeless shelters and dealt with case workers. It's the most humiliating shit imaginable and you just want to punch those self-righteous cunts in the face.
That's one of the reasons if I make real estate six figures part time, or 7 figures, I might begin looking into specifically recruiting homeless men of good character for my local team.
Max M., over 9 years ago