Janice Thomas
Director of Homeless Services
In August, I received a welcoming email from Jackie Gisonti, Independent Living Intake Coordinator for Valley Youth House. The agency was accepting referrals for its Rapid Re-Housing for Homeless Families Program, which started October 1st.
In the first week of October, seven families from the Homeless Services Program at Third Street Alliance have found stable housing, all thanks to the Rapid Re-Housing program.
The fundamental goal of Rapid Re-Housing is to reduce the amount of time a person is homeless.
The program is an intervention that helps families and individuals living on the streets or in emergency shelters move to permanent housing through assistance that may include time limited financial assistance and supportive services. It is an important component of a community’s response to homelessness.
Rapid re-housing models are applied across the country through the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program (HPRP) and are found to be highly successful and a cost-effective intervention for most homeless families.
It’s exciting to be aligned with a strong agency like Valley Youth House to meet the housing needs of some of our families. The seven families that were selected will experience the benefits of this, and they are in a position to be more successful because of the services they will continue to receive.
