San Antonio Uses HPRP to Emphasize Financial Literacy

With HPRP, the city saw an opportunity to develop and implement a new and comprehensive financial literacy program for homeless and at-risk people that coupled financial education with housing assistance. San Antonio and its partners found that this approach has the potential to improve families' long-term well-being, because program participants acquired the tools and renewed perspective needed to maintain self-sufficiency and to be better prepared for unexpected crises. Although the continuation of these efforts post-HPRP will be smaller in scope, the city's goal remains the same: to build the financial capacity and self-sufficiency of its citizens with the highest need.
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A City and County Combine HPRP Efforts to Better Serve their Community

The City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County used HPRP as an opportunity to work together to provide better homelessness delivery systems by creating a central contact point for their homeless residents and those at-risk of homelessness. It also allowed them to plan for the future and include a rapid re-housing service for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that will be at least partially funded through the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) program. This service will be similar to HPRP, drawing upon lessons the community learned through its implementation.
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Case Management Makes the Difference in the City of Bakersfield

The city emphasized the "rapid" in rapid re-housing by designing its program according to the Housing First model, and assisting clients through case management from the moment they walked in the door. The City's case managers took a comprehensive approach by forming relationships with landlords, providing financial and career supportive services, and reaching out to other programs that could address needs and services that HPRP could not.
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Tempe Serves as Model for Program and Community Collaboration

By utilizing HPRP funds and collaborating with existing programs, the City of Tempe was able to make a significant impact in the community by rapidly re-housing hard-to-reach chronically homeless persons. The lessons learned through HPRP, such as the importance of political will and stakeholder collaboration in changing an entire region's approach to homelessness, have already informed Tempe's latest initiative, and the impact of successfully rapidly re-housing "hard to serve" clients will be seen for many years to come.
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Mother and Daughter Find a Better Future with the Help of HPRP

Despite her limited education, work experience, and abusive past, Carla and her daughter were able to start a new life. At the Rainbow House Shelter for women and children Carla met with a case manager to help realize her personal assets and received financial assistance to help her move into a home and pursue her GED. HPRP provided her with the security deposit she needed to move into a subsidized apartment, and connected her to furniture and food donations to make her apartment feel more like a home.
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HPRP Provides Housing and Healing for Single Mom

Sarah made a lot of sacrifices to take care of her son and newborn twins. However, after being hospitalized and relying on family to provide housing, she turned to HPRP for assistance. With the help of her case manager, she is now able to provide safe housing, and with child care in place, Sarah continues her journey toward healing.
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Ventura County Uses HPRP and HUD-VASH to Assist Homeless Veterans

In Ventura County, homeless veterans make up over 10 percent of the unsheltered population, so the County reached out to the Los Angeles Veterans Administration to find out how to use HPRP and HUD-VASH together to better serve veterans. This resulted in expanded services and support for the area's homeless veterans. HPRP gave Ventura County an immediate, concrete way to help its homeless veterans get housed. "It makes housing possible. It stirs up their hope. And by supplementing HUD-VASH with HPRP, we can quickly put our veterans into the safe and quiet homes they need."
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Veteran Finds Health and Housing Assistance Through HPRP

Victor had been living in one of his six storage units when his case manager first met him. He has since received comprehensive financial and mental health support which helped address his hoarding tendencies and financial struggles. Victor has now lived in stable housing for over two years and serves as an example of how dedicated HPRP specialists can make a difference in someone's life.
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Roanoke's Community Housing Resource Center Serves as a Model of Success

With HPRP and United Way's Emergency Assistance funding, Roanoke launched a "Community Housing Resource Center" and began their first formalized rapid re-housing efforts. The organization operating this Center, the Council of Community Services (CCS), has since become the largest provider of prevention and rapid re-housing dollars in the community. Through the Housing Resource Center, Roanoke has served more than 500 households with financial assistance, moving help, budget and credit counseling, and case management through the CCS, and continues to expand the program.
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Veteran Finds Safety and Relief Through HPRP and HUD-VASH

Upon returning to her family from her second tour in Iraq, DJ was confronted with an abusive husband, a family to take care of, and several war-related injuries. DJ left her husband and moved her children to be near family in Philadelphia where she eventually entered HPRP. With the help of HPRP and then HUD-VASH, DJ was able to get the veteran support she needed and a safe home for her family.
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Single Mother Achieves Education Goals

As a young, single mother of two, Danni had many responsibilities and very little income. Through HPRP, she received rental assistance and help towards achieving her goal of becoming a certified nursing assistant. She has since graduated, now has a full time job that supports her family and has big plans for their future.
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HPRP Helped to Quickly Integrate HMIS into Washington State's Homeless and At-Risk Assistance

Using HPRP funds, Washington State implemented HMIS-based reporting and evaluation with its subgrantees for the first time. Three years later, all subgrantees continue to use HMIS to report data for their State-funded grants. Agencies share client-level data while retaining client privacy, giving the community a clearer picture of homelessness in their community. The State is using this better data to develop performance measurements on their non-HUD homeless assistance grants.
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DeKalb County Access to Prevention and Homelessness Assistance

Recognizing that households in DeKalb County were suffering from the lack of coordination between homeless service providers, DeKalb developed a model to better direct clients to appropriate services. DeKalb built the principles of the "Access Model" into contractual agreements with HPRP subgrantees. This new approach, aided by HPRP funding, created an inter-organizational network that will benefit the community even after HPRP.
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A Laid Off Wisconsin Woman Finds Hope, Direction in HPRP

Two years after losing her job and her marriage, Sheri entered HPRP feeling overwhelmed by her bills. In the program, Sheri met a case manager and a network of friends who became her financial and emotional support. She learned how to prioritize housing costs and budget while working part-time jobs. Sheri left the program with this new skill set, a home, and full-time employment.
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State of Michigan Uses Data to Increase and Analyze Success

The State of Michigan embraced the challenge of HPRP to prioritize those with the most imminent need. The State created a risk assessment matrix based on research to identify individuals and families facing the greatest risk of housing loss or insecurity, which HPRP subgrantees incorporated into their intake process. In addition, Michigan performed follow-up analysis to learn that only 6.5% of those who received financial assistance for rapid re-housing returned to homelessness within 2 years.
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HPRP Housing Assistance Provides Safe and Healthy Home

After years of living in an unsafe rental unit with a sick child, Keisha was able to take advantage of HPRP's housing search assistance and found an apartment immediately. HPRP provided the security deposit and utilities for the first month and rental assistance until she entered a permanent supportive housing program one year later. This assistance helped her maintain the housing stability she needed to continue taking care of her disabled son and regain custody of her older children.
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Family Facing Eviction Receives Support Through HPRP

Faced with an illegal eviction, Terrell and Melanie feared that their family would soon end up in a homeless shelter. However, after determination of their imminent risk of homelessness, they entered HPRP and received the needed legal assistance from Central Jersey Legal Services (CJLS) to keep their family in their home.
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Mother Uses HPRP Support to Rise Above the Odds

Madeira faced extreme odds when her husband was incarcerated. She found herself without a source of income, work history, and English fluency. With support from an HPRP grantee in Hialeah, Florida, however, Madeira faced these challenges head on. She found employment and advanced from a temporary seasonal position to a permanent position, where she was recognized as employee of the month.
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Regional Collaboration in Connecticut Creates Network for Success

Connecticut used HPRP funding to transform the way the State serves people in need of housing. Using their network of subgrantees and applying promising practices, including HMIS data-sharing and quarterly meetings to share best practices, the State streamlined their intake processes and provision of homeless prevention and assistance. This network will continue to facilitate information sharing and collaboration for all programs beyond HPRP.
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Victim Turns Advocate with Help of Case Management

Margarita was the victim of domestic violence for many years before she fled with her children. Enlace Communitario connected her with pro bono lawyers, counseling services and housing and she was able to exit HPRP with a Section 8 voucher. Ultimately, she secured a position as community leader helping other vulnerable members of the Spanish-speaking community.
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Central Intake and HMIS Prove Keys to Successful HPRP Implementation

The City of Buffalo instituted a central intake for HPRP requests and then channeled referrals to appropriate HPRP grantees, eliminating both the need for clients to shop around for assistance and for agencies to do initial screening. In addition, they used HMIS to assist with applications for mainstream services and requests for financial assistance which was approved in the HMIS system. The cross-agency collaboration improved outcomes for the clients and successfully modeled the benefits of working together to meet the community needs.
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Family Relocates for Educational Opportunity

An under-employed veteran, his wife and two young children were living in a fishing shack with no running water when the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services partnered with the Buffalo Valley HPRP in Tennessee to locate an auto mechanic training program and suitable housing. Using the housing allowance from the VA and the assistance of the HPRP, the family will be able to maintain safe, stable housing while the dad increases his future earning potential.
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Hildago County, Texas Family Avoids Homelessness Thanks to HPRP

After losing his job and facing imminent eviction, Legal Aid linked Jose to Advocacy Resource Center for Housing's HPRP program. The case worker was able to locate a new unit, provide funding for first month's rent and security deposit and avoid homelessness for this family of six. With housing stabilized, the case worker provided linkages to other needed resources for the family including food stamps, clothing and educational supports. Within four months of facing eviction, Jose had a job and the family had a Housing Choice Voucher.
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West Palm Beach Homeless System Makes Changes Modeled After HPRP Success

The availability of HPRP funding led the West Palm Beach community to identify gaps in services for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Successful changes such as using a common intake form or creating new partnerships to better utilize HPRP funds are being codified for the Continuum of Care.
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Sudden Single Dad Stabilized and Supported

When Rob was suddenly given custody of children he barely knew, he struggled with his new role and the unfamiliar demands of parenthood. His work was affected and he fell behind on rent. HPRP support stabilized his housing, worked on budgeting and found resources for his children including subsidized child care. He left the program after 8 months with a raise, past bills paid, and the children doing better in school.
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HPRP Case Studies in Community Change

Seven communities show the way the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing Program is promoting community change and transformation of local homeless assistance.
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Community Revises HMIS to Evaluate and Plan

The Partnership Center, the community's HMIS lead agency, customized HMIS to track HPRP rapid re-housing participants' housing stability after assistance ended. They created custom reports to help identify housing vulnerabilities of their former clients and are using the information to realign programs under HEARTH.
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HPRP Assistance Leads to Support for New Home, New Job and New Grandchild

With an impending eviction and the birth of her first grandchild, Toni and her family needed assistance – and fast. Her landlord referred her to an HPRP case manager who rushed the verification process and helped her locate a new apartment for her and her pregnant daughter to live. She found a new job as well as she awaits the birth of her grandchild.
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Veteran Maintains Housing While Supported Through Job Search

A former Vietnam Vet saw her hours decrease at her job and her debt increase. Showing confidence in her ability to find employment, HPRP held off the eviction and supported her during her job search. They also focused on budgeting and saving skills to help her in the future.
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Elder Abuse Victim Takes Back Control of his Money and his Life

He accepted the offer to move in with his daughter. But when the companionship he had hoped for turned in to both fiscal and physical abuse, the senior moved into a shelter. He needed to stabilize his housing and his finances and did so working with his HPRP case manager.
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Veteran Moves Out of Car and Into Apartment

Kevin, a veteran of OEF/OIF, found himself attending college classes during the day and sleeping in his car at night. After two years, he was finally offered a Section 8 voucher and had to admit to his case manager that he lacked the resources for a security deposit. With this small amount of assistance from HPRP, he was able to move into his apartment and complete his degree six months later.
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Communication Streamlined, Evaluation Built into County-wide Program

Alameda County combined HPRP funding received by state and direct grantees with TANF funds to coordinate and systematize prevention and rapid re-housing efforts across the county. To continually learn from and refine their program, grantees and providers meet regularly in an "Implementation and Learning Community", and communicate daily through an online Google Group. Alameda County's coordinated HPRP is leading to a new way of working together that will impact the rest of the homeless services system.

(Community Profile by NAEH)

A Grateful Street Performer Finds Stable Housing in New Orleans

Mr. Bryant, known in the French Quarter as “Silver Man,” earns his keep by painting himself silver and performing mime for tourists. Although he had won his battle with drug addiction, he continued to struggle with finding an apartment due to a lack of steady income. But with the help of his determined case worker and HPRP assistance, Silver Man landed himself a one-bedroom and a new lease on life.
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Austin Realigns Homelessness Services to Streamline Delivery

In the past, the City of Austin had supported homelessness services through individual contracts with nonprofits that focused on prevention, homeless assistance, or housing location services. With HPRP, organizations began aligning their intake processes to give and take referrals, creating numerous entry points and expedited paths to appropriate assistance. This new process is also changing how Austin manages homeless services for the future, resulting in multiple lasting benefits.
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Rental Assistance and Compassion Empower a Florida Woman to Get Back on Her Feet

After a series of crises, including loss of a job and major car repair bills, Laura was evicted from her apartment in Broward County, Florida. Being a transgender individual and a survivor of hate crimes, she was wary of seeking help. But an empathetic case worker at Crisis Housing Solutions connected Laura with rental assistance from HPRP, helping her find affordable housing and renewed stability.
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Cincinnati Transforms Its Emergency Assistance System to Focus on Outcomes

HPRP helped Cincinnati, Ohio, reinvent its homelessness prevention program to great success. Using HPRP funding to consolidate and coordinate homelessness prevention services offered by various providers, Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, have helped more than 1,500 households avoid homelessness in just 2 years. A renewed focus on tracking and improving housing outcomes through their local HMIS has enabled service providers to boost the financial assistance and case management support available to each household.. HMIS has enabled service providers to boost the financial assistance and case management support available to each household.
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Rapid Re-Housing Program Puts Florida Woman on Path to Secure Housing and Employment

A criminal background, prior evictions, and unemployment posed formidable challenges to Palm Beach resident Marta and her young daughter in their search for stable housing. But with the support of her case manager and rental assistance provided by HPRP, Marta found a new apartment, took advantage of available job training, and landed a new job that pays $10 an hour more than her previous employment.
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Rapid Re-Housing Assistance Gives Pregnant Utah Woman a Fresh Start

Six months pregnant and newly homeless, Janet found herself seeking help at an emergency shelter in Salt Lake City last winter. After securing rapid re-housing assistance through HPRP, Janet was able to find a stable apartment, giving her a safe home to begin raising her daughter and the confidence to find part-time employment and go back to school to become a medical assistant.
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HPRP Helps Reunite and Re-House a Texas Mother and Daughter

For Kerry, a single mother from Tarrant County, Texas, overcoming substance abuse was just the first step in reclaiming her life—and her daughter. With the help of financial assistance from HPRP, she’s not only kicked the addiction and reunited with her young daughter, but Kerry now has an apartment to call home.
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