Dallas Housing Nonprofit Warns of Dwindling Resources

A Dallas housing program is halfway to reaching its goal of providing housing for 2,700 people and families by 2023, reports Jacob Vaughn in the Dallas Observer. The R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing initiative, led by the nonprofit Housing Forward, has housed 1,265 people so far, but Housing Forward president and CEO Joli Angel Robinson warns that the program’s resources are being strained by rent increases, low supply, and landlords unwilling to rent to voucher recipients. Meanwhile, more families are seeking assistance, Robinson says.

In addition to its housing services, Housing Forward supports diversion programs that prevent households from falling into homelessness through partners such as Family Gateway. The article points out that preventing homelessness is much more cost-effective than sheltering unhoused people. “On average, Family Gateway spends about $1,275 per family to keep them off the streets. Half of those families didn’t need financial assistance at all. Compare that to the $12,320 it usually costs to put up a family in a shelter and provide services for a little over two months, and you’ll see why many say diversion is a bargain.”

Housing Forward says the organization needs more landlords willing to work with them to have sufficient units for placing people who need housing.