Hope and a Home offers low income families proven and manageable ways to make lasting changes in their lives. We call these our Keys for Change. Using Hope and a Home’s one-on-one coaching and peer support, our parents and children build on their aspirations and strengths to achieve permanent housing, higher education, rewarding work, and valuable connections to their community.
Children are Hope and a Home's priority. To nurture each child's potential, we foster healthy, loving families; we train parents to be the primary educators of their children; and we advocate for excellent educational resources for each child. We operate and promote affordable housing because a stable home is essential to each child’s -- and each family’s -- success.
Affordable Housing
Our Transitional Housing Program rents 18 apartments to families with incomes at 30% or below of the area median income ($26,800 for a family of four). We mentor parents and children in their journey from homelessness to permanent housing, from educational failure to success in school, and from instability to stable and nurturing family life.
Our rents start at $200 a month, approximately one-sixth of the current DC rental rate and increase each of the two subsequent years to prepare families for market rates when they graduate from our transitional housing. Families may reside in our housing for up to three years – longer than most DC-area housing programs. This longer stay makes it possible for children to become established in good schools (see Higher Education for All, below) and for their parents to build strong relationships and acquire the skills that foster long-lasting change. We support our parents through:
- weekly in -home meetings, quarterly goal-setting meetings, and annual progress evaluations;
- coaching to be responsible tenants and assistance to move to permanent housing;
- a Personal Savings Program -- parents save $25 per month during their first two years in our housing and $50 per month during their final year in the program;
- training in financial literacy using Hope and a Home’s workbook, Our Dreams and Our Money: Setting Goals about Money; and
- peer group support in monthly family workshops.
Our Stay and Thrive Program organizes the neighborhood of 14th and R Street and 350 residents living in 164 Section 8 apartments in support of the tenants’ desire to stay in their homes and thrive as positive changes come to their community. Our activities include:
- assisting residents in organizing a tenants association and supporting their successful efforts to negotiate with a third party purchaser of their properties;
- operating an after-school program for children in this housing;
- offering summer activities for neighborhood school children; and
- providing job training and summer job placement for neighborhood teens.
For results, see our 2007 Annual Report.
Higher Education for All
Hope and a Home provides essential educational services so that low income, school aged children will graduate from high school and complete college or vocational school.
- We assess each child’s academic standing, conduct classroom observations, and identify and secure the educational resources that children are entitled to by law: testing, evaluations, and appropriate school placements in public, charter, or private schools;
- We train parents to serve as educators and advocates for their children. We help them build essential skills to engage in school activities such as parent-teacher conferences;
- We match our students with volunteer mentors and tutors;
- We reward students for setting and achieving academic goals for each advisory. One half of the financial reward goes to the student; the other half is deposited in a savings account to be used when the child attends college or vocational school;
- We provide and promote meaningful after-school and summer enrichment activities that reinforce academic learning; and
- We enroll our children in other DC programs that support higher education for low income students.
For results, see our 2007 Annual Report.
Rewarding Employment
Our Work and Thrive Project trains neighborhood teenagers for successful employment and matches them with local businesses for rewarding summer jobs. We offer ten workshops that prepare teenagers to present themselves to prospective employers, to write resumés, and to engage in successful interviews. Over the years, several summer jobs have turned into after-school employment and local employers have become mentors to the teens who work for them.
We also support parents in finding rewarding work for good pay. Professional career counselors and Hope and a Home staff help parents to define their career goals and to develop action plans for finding jobs. Parents craft resumés that showcase their talents and hone their interviewing and networking skills. Our parents tell us that the skills they have acquired at Hope and a Home have helped them realize their career dreams.
For results, see our
2007 Annual Report.
Family and Community Connections
After decades of struggle with public and private disinvestment, joblessness and crime, the Columbia Heights and Shaw neighborhoods of Washington are reclaiming their place as communities of rich history and economic vibrancy. Major capital investments are re-shaping the skyline, and many housing units are being built or renovated, bringing a more diverse and largely more affluent population. For some residents, this progress may bring opportunities, but it also presents huge, every day challenges: they fear that they may be displaced as the neighborhood changes.
Hope and a Home believes that change and revitalization can benefit all residents.
We build strong families and vibrant neighborhoods where lower-income residents and affordable housing are valued as important elements of a healthy and sustainable community; where families and employers benefit because workers can afford to live near their jobs; and where civic engagement creates opportunities for all residents to achieve their highest potential and to shape the fabric and future of their community.
Hope and a Home has sponsored photography classes, landscaping projects, and a monthly community newsletter which, along with our other program activities, connect children, parents and neighbors with one another and to valuable resources in their community.
For results, see our 2007 Annual Report.