Unity Housing Stabilization Program

Location
Statewide  – Alaska

Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC) has developed an innovative approach to address homelessness within the state of Alaska: the Alaska Housing Stabilization and Recovery Program. Using Emergency Rental Assistance funding from the U.S. Treasury, this program pairs housing stability services with up to 12 months of rental assistance for eligible households. The program’s approach is simple: identify eligible households, immediately move them into transitional housing, and identify/move the household into a long-term unit. This simplified approach has allowed over 1,000 people previously experiencing homelessness to be housed, over 250 of which are under the age of 18.

Eligibility requires one of the following housing statuses: sleeping outside, sleeping in shelter, or victims of domestic violence or human trafficking. Stabilization navigators find eligible clients via street outreach, shelter visits, and referrals. A client record is created  using a tablet, purchased specifically for this program from AHFC administration funds. The record updates in the system in real-time.

Along with self-certified income, the client’s housing status is used as a fact based-proxy to satisfy Treasury’s income certification requirements. Navigators then move clients into stable housing and provide stability services for up to 90 days. Additionally, clients are entered on waitlists for Section 8, Emergency Housing Vouchers, etc. that will remain after the Treasury funding expires.

Navigators help clients find rental housing with $3,000 in assistance per client for moving expenses and deposits followed by $1,100 / month in rental assistance for 12 months.

Contact
Donald Golchal
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation
[email protected]