Special Needs Housing: Combating Homelessness

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation:
Reimagining Resettlement

Alaska is now home to refugees from 22 countries that speak 17 languages. These new Alaskans fled their home country as a result of war, conflict, and/or persecution. Often, they leave with nothing but the clothes on their backs. AHFC expanded our homeless programs to address the traumatic resettlement experience and to provide refugee-specific services. AHFC’s Refugee intervention replaces traumatization with empowerment and housing stability for our new neighbors.

Georgia Department of Community Affairs/Georgia Housing and Finance Authority:
Georgia Rental Assistance Program

Despite lacking a statewide rental assistance infrastructure, the GA Department of Community Affairs mobilized a task force, developed an online portal & logistical plan through the GA Rental Assistance Program to deploy Emergency Rental Assistance funds from the US Treasury. To date, the GRA Program has assisted over 61,000 people. Building on this success, the GRA Eviction Prevention Initiative was launched to continue to provide legal aid, rental & utility assistance statewide in the future.

Illinois Housing Development Authority:
Court-Based Rental Assistance Program “Pay and Stay”

Illinois Court-Based Rental Assistance Program is the latest program developed by the Illinois Housing Authority (IHDA) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact it had on many renters’ ability to make their monthly payments. When both the city of Chicago and Cook County enacted local ordinances to assist renters facing eviction, IHDA quickly took action to quickly create a new pathway to ensure this group of tenants did not fall through the cracks and get evicted.

Louisiana Housing Corporation:
Louisiana Safe Havens

Partnering with nonprofit organizations in Louisiana to combat chronic homelessness in Shreveport and Lafayette by creating Save Havens - additional shelter spaces with diminished barriers to access. These Safe Havens marry low barriers to shelter access with on-site services to support persons experiencing chronic homelessness, with Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds (CDBG-DR).

Minnesota Housing:
Crossroads to Justice

Crossroads to Justice outlines a bold, innovative response to homelessness by bringing an integrated housing, racial, and health justice approach for people facing homelessness to guide the work of state government. This person-centered and impact-oriented plan was co-developed and will be co-implemented by paid consultants who have faced homelessness, is championed by the governor and lieutenant governor, and is advanced by staff and leaders proactively coordinating across 14 state agencies.

Nebraska Investment Finance Authority:
Nebraska Findhelp

NIFA's groundbreaking partnership with findhelp.org led to nebraska.findhelp.com, which is revolutionizing access to support for Nebraskans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. By seamlessly integrating LIHTC units into the platform, NIFA empowers property managers and tenants, offering free access to vital resources and community-based organizations. This innovative solution represents a low-cost, high-impact strategy, helping NIFA lead the charge in Nebraska's battle against homelessness.

New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority:
Landlord Collaboration Program

MFA and NM Children Youth & Families Department collaborated with youth/young adult housing providers in portions of NM to launch LCP. Partnerships with landlords are critical to ending homelessness, and many strategies are involved in engaging and recruiting landlords, including the provision of risk mitigation funds and supportive services to landlords. Funds distributed to landlords are used to cover costs such as damage to rental units, lost rent, or legal fees beyond the security deposit.

Oregon Housing and Community Services:
Leading Oregon’s Emergency Homelessness Response

Oregon's Emergency Homelessness Response aims to reduce the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Oregon and create a system of partnerships with service providers, local governments, culturally specific organizations, multiple state departments, and others to achieve measurable goals to prevent households from becoming homeless, add low-barrier shelter beds, and rehouse unsheltered households.