To leverage the power of affordable, stable housing to change lives and improve communities.
We provided support for coordination and capacity building of two strategic goals focused on family resiliency: housing and financial stability of low-income Cleveland families. This approach combines long-term counseling with integrated support services to help families achieve documented financial improvements.
Housing stability is a prime indicator of long-term success among low-income families, particularly children. A MacArthur Foundation study has shown that disparities in housing stability are primarily due to financial instability. In Cleveland, families rank among the most financially unstable in the country.
Housing is a key platform for family strengthening. There is clear alignment between CHN’s work to stabilize housing and help families increase their financial assets and the empowerment prong of our Resilient Families strategy. Its efforts to assess and address barriers to housing stability and success proactively, particularly through its Family Success Initiative, supports the coordination prong of our strategy, as it attempts to better integrate services within its organization, and develop new partnerships beyond its walls.
Clients who received certain service combinations were more likely to return for crisis programs compared to those receiving other services, ensuring more timely response to their needs.
The Family Success Initiative helped households to increase net assets:
