Housing Hope: Fostering stability one home at a time
Susan and John live in Snohomish County, Washington with their three children. Until recently, John worked full-time and the family lived with Susan's mother. The couple struggled to pay all their bills and save enough money to move into a place of their own. When the situation worsened, the family had to move out, but had nowhere to go. Housing Hope was there to help them, providing them with a temporary apartment before finding them transitional housing in an apartment complex.
A History of Hope
According to its website, the mission of Housing Hope is "to promote and provide a continuum of safe, decent, affordable housing and necessary related services for low and very low income residents of Snohomish County and Camano Island." Chief Operating Officer (COO) Bruce Eklund describes it as "a homegrown agency that grew out of concern for the number of homeless families in Snohomish County who did not have resources." He explains that when the organization began in 1987, services were available for single men and single women, and although some organizations helped women and children, nothing was yet available for entire families.
"Service-Enriched Housing"
Housing Hope has four different programs:
- The Homeless Program's shelter services provide a home for the families for 30 days. An in-depth evaluation determines clients' needs, and the family subsequently moves into a two-year transitional housing program.
- The Housing Program currently has over 280 units in the program that provide housing for homeless families. Housing Hope is the largest affordable housing agency for families in the community and provides what Eklund describes as "service-enriched housing." In addition, nearly 200 "self-help sweat equity homes" have been built through Housing Hope since 1993.
- The Education Program includes the "College of Hope," which offers participants skill-building classes, residential learning communities, in-home learning, and home ownership counseling.
- The Child Program includes school support, assessments and supports for children with special needs, recreational opportunities, and Tomorrow's Hope Childcare Center – a child care and child development center with specialized services available to all families in the transitional program.Both the College of Hope and Tomorrow's Hope are staffed with employees within the agency who Eklund describes as an "amazingly dedicated group focused on providing the best services to these families."
Hoping for the Best…Technology
When Bruce Eklund signed on as Housing Hope's COO, he "found a crisis of major proportions." The organization had a "very patchwork" peer-to-peer network. Eklund explains, "Nearly the whole history of the agency was on C drives, with no backup." He solicited some volunteers to put together the data architecture for a new network. He adds, "It was difficult, obviously, because we don't have a lot of money. I was able to convince the Board that our data was on shaky ground." They moved all the data on the hard drives to the server and showed staff how to save their content safely to the network.
Eklund shares that "peer networks were way beyond his personal experience." He turned to help from the Microsoft and NPower National Partnership. NPower analyzed the system, offered scheduled support, and helped him understand the system. As he explains, "They were my early advisors."
"[Housing Hope] received 'a major donation worth $42,000 of Microsoft product through TechSoup Global. We no longer have to worry about crashing computers."
Bruce Eklund
Chief Operating Officer of Housing Hope
A Hope Chest by TechSoup Global
Eklund heard about TechSoup Global through the Microsoft and NPower National Partnership. NPower helped him understand what software they needed to get through TechSoup Global's Microsoft donation program. As it turned out, Eklund needed to upgrade all of the PCs' operating systems to XP Professional and upgrade Microsoft Office to Office 2003. He submitted a request for the number of needed licenses and received "a major donation worth $42,000 of Microsoft product through TechSoup Global." Because of this donation, Eklund says, he no longer had to worry about computers crashing.
TechSoup Global also provided help when Eklund realized that he had some really old computers that were not compatible with XP Professional. Through TechSoup Global's Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) Program, which provides high-quality refurbished computer systems at a discount, he obtained two laptops and five desktops. "The money I saved on those was substantial and allowed me to receive more than I thought I would—TechSoup Global is a fabulous resource to help us maximize the value of our spending." Eklund had budgeted for four PCs at approximately $750 per computer, but because they had only a $300 fee through the refurbished program (which includes all associated costs, including the discounted price and administrative fee), he was able to request seven.
Because of the cost savings, he was also able to upgrade a couple of the desktops to laptops and install remote access software so that case managers can now do their work as far as 50 miles away.
As Eklund explains, "Our greatest resource is the time our case managers spend with families." The newly acquired laptops have meant that Housing Hope's case managers can spend much more direct contact time with residents. Eklund hopes to attain more refurbished computers in the near future.
Hope Springs Eternal
Eventually, Eklund hopes to have computers available at all sites. One home at a time, Housing Hope provides optimism for people like Susan and John, helping families set goals and advocate for themselves, use the Internet to apply for jobs, and learn the fundamentals of technology.
