The number of families facing homelessness in the Chicago area is on the rise. As housing costs skyrocket and inventory of affordable housing plummets, many families are faced with the devastating reality of homelessness. In record numbers families are being forced to double or triple up with other families, move into hotels, and in more extreme cases live in their vehicles or shelters. The disruption homelessness creates is catastrophic for parents and their children.
Hephzibah’s Intact Family Services caseworker Adam Borges is all too familiar with the housing crisis that is currently impacting families. According to Adam, after they meet a family and make sure they are safe, securing suitable and affordable housing is almost always the first task. However, finding housing that fits the bill is like looking for a needle in a haystack due to a lack of a central, connected resource for locating available properties. Thankfully Hephzibah staff are familiar with creative problem solving, and that’s just what Adam did when he met Injustice Studies student Setese Mims who was searching for a final graduation project with a local agency serving families.
After connecting with Adam, Setese immediately got to work creating a list of available and affordable homes to help Hephzibah families find the housing they need. With the wait list for housing advocates who would normally help with this process taking anywhere from months to years, families are often displaced before they ever receive housing referrals. The list Setese created is bypassing this delay and speeding up the process by allowing caseworkers and family to search by criteria, eliminating precious time wasted with dead-ends. The new list is organized by location, availability dates, size of property, financial and credit requirements substantially shortening the time it takes to weed through endless referral sources. According to Adam, “Our team often relied on word-of-mouth referrals. As you can imagine, that was unreliable and often sent us on a wild-goose chase for an apartment that would be gone by the time we called. Our teams can now focus on the family, not the search, and put their needs first.”
Another bonus of Setese’s list is that it also includes landlords that accept housing vouchers, which many Hephzibah families have—a huge help for families and caseworkers looking for properties. Together, Adam and Setese have eased one of the biggest struggles for families trying to find a home when they need it the most. The innovation of the Intact team and the motivated intern are helping Hephzibah families become stronger sooner, and that could mean the difference between a family staying together or fracturing.
An unexpected benefit also arose after Setese began her project. When she called landlords and housing agencies, she would describe exactly what Hephzibah is, and what we do for children and families. According to Setese, “I was able to spread the word about Hephzibah’s services and you never know who will need our help next. I love Hephzibah and was thrilled to inform others of our work!”
“Keeping families together whenever possible is always the goal,” says Adam.
A little collaboration goes a long way. Together, Adam and Setese creatively found a solution for a barrier families and staff were facing, and it’s an example of what we call the Hephzibah Spirit. We are continuously finding ways to help families overcome obstacles that no family should have to face.