When Tackling Homelessness, Prevention is Often the Best Medicine

The city of Cambridge ran a guaranteed income program to help lift low-income single parents above the poverty line. The program provided 130 parents, who were selected by lottery, with $500 a month — no strings attached.

Federal funding for rental assistance and a moratorium on evictions for past-due rent reduced evictions in Colorado by more than half over the past two years.

The economic impact payments and expanded child tax credits given to American households during the COVID-19 Pandemic helped reduce rates of child poverty and food insecurity.

Healing Hurt People, a hospital-based violence intervention program in Portland, embeds caseworkers in trauma center care teams to rapidly connect shooting victims and their families with counseling, housing assistance, job training, and emotional support. The program has been linked with Portland's decline in gun violence, though chronic funding instability continues to threaten its capacity and growth.

The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), enacted in Washington, D.C. in 1980, gives tenants the right of first refusal when their building is put up for sale. The law requires landlords to notify tenants before selling, allowing residents to purchase the property themselves, form cooperative ownership, or assign their rights to affordable housing nonprofits. Since forming, TOPA, with the help of several local housing and tenant organizations, has preserved thousands of homes in D.C.

The Rent Smart renter’s education program helps people who face barriers to finding housing gain the necessary skills and knowledge to have a successful renting experience. The program teaches participants their rights and responsibilities as a tenant and in a six-month follow-up survey, 92% of participants said they found safer, more affordable, better-quality housing after finishing the program.

The International Institute of Minnesota’s refugee resettlement program finds and prepares apartments for refugee families moving to the state. Through a combination of donations and buying new or used items, the organization stocks the home with all of the essentials, groceries, and furniture. And volunteers help set it all up.

A community-aid program in South Tuscon curates free emergency food boxes tailored to an individual’s dietary restrictions and dropped off at their door. Recipients only need to fill out an online form to receive a box full of fresh and shelf-stable foods.

Tenant advocacy group Long Beach Residents Empowered (LIBRE) works with renters and helps them advocate for themselves against tenant harassment, unsafe living conditions and unjust evictions. LIBRE is divided into various campaigns, each with a different focus, like neighborhood organizing or training others about how to fight for tenant protection and advocate for policy change.

Fortify Life takes a holistic approach to addressing homelessness and also provides emergency and long-term stays in a renovated motel for people experiencing homelessness. Long-term guests participate in a micropayment program that teaches them how to budget and become financially self-sufficient. Since 2021, Fortify Life has helped 179 families with emergency or transitional housing.