Housing & Incoming Stability are Closely Linked
Numerous studies find that increased income is a strong predictor of a person exiting homelessness. Research also tells us that individuals experiencing homelessness consistently rank paid employment alongside healthcare and housing as a primary need. When parents of families experiencing homelessness are asked to name one thing that would most help get their family back on its feet, the most common answer is employment. Over and over again, we find that those experiencing homelessness want to work and often are working already, but are not earning enough to keep a roof over their heads. Yet, far too few people experiencing homelessness are being connected to economic opportunities and income supports they want and need for housing stability.
OUR VISION
Heartland Alliance’s National Center on Employment & Homelessness (NCEH) advances efforts to create effective and equitable pathways to economic opportunity for all people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. We believe that everyone deserves a safe and stable home and the ability to provide for themselves and their families. That is why our North Star goal is that every person experiencing homelessness who wants to work achieves employment and the income needed for long-term housing stability.
OUR WORK
In order to achieve our vision, we need policy solutions that open doors to employment for people experiencing housing instability, equitable and effective systems that connect homeless jobseekers to employment and income, and a movement of people across stakeholder groups and sectors seeking equitable ways to support the economic needs of all individuals facing housing instability.
OPTIMIZING SYSTEMS through The Pathways Forward Challenge: Advancing Employment, Equity, and an End to Homelessness
In June 2019, with the support of the Melville Charitable Trust and the Oak Foundation, Heartland Alliance launched the Pathways Forward Challenge (PWFC) – an initiative that catalyzes and supports communities in creating more effective and equitable pathways to employment for people experiencing homelessness. Our seven PWFC communities were selected through a competitive process and are receiving financial resources, technical assistance, and peer-learning opportunities over a two and a half year project period to advance bold efforts that shift systems. PWFC communities are: Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), PA; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA; and Tarrant County (Fort Worth), TX
NURTURING A MOVEMENT through The Pathways Forward Learning Forum
The Learning Forum is a one-year community of practice that aims to catalyze and support stakeholders’ efforts to increase employment for homeless jobseekers in their communities. Once a month, Learning Forum participants engage in interactive online meetings with peers from across the country to expand their knowledge and spur each other toward action. The Learning Forum aims to nurture the growing movement of champions working to create better, more equitable pathways to employment for all homeless jobseekers in their communities. We see this movement-building as instrumental in achieving broad systems and policy change. There are around 20 stakeholders from ten communities participating in the Learning Forum.
ADVANCING POLICY SOLUTIONS through collaboration with Federal Agencies and Philanthropic groups
NCEH team members have been working closely with the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to inform and guide action around the role of ensuring access to economic opportunity in the effort to prevent and end homelessness. We have lifted up the wisdom and knowledge gained through our deep investment and experience working in communities and have influenced the Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness and were instrumental in catalyzing the formation of USICH’s Employment and Income Working Group. In the fall of 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor and the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a joint letter underscoring the importance of the intersection of employment and housing, outlining the importance of collaboration between homeless service and workforce systems and highlighting changes to the 2019 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) funding priorities which, for the first time ever, included points for communities that demonstrated partnerships with housing and workforce systems.
Heartland Alliance also offers thought leadership to the philanthropic collaborative, Funders Together to End Homelessness (FTEH) and has partnered with FTEH’s Employment & Housing community of practice to develop a set of federal agency recommendations that would open doors to employment and income for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability.
