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Web Site Adds Resources on Social Services for Renters
 With a $750,000 grant from Freddie Mac, Enterprise Community Partners is providing informational resources on its Web site related to support services for people living in affordable rental housing.
“Enterprise knows that fit, affordable housing, although very important, is just the first step in the path out of poverty into the mainstream of American life,” said Bart Harvey, chairman and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners. “However, housing — together with resident services that result in more education for adults, after school programs for children, job readiness and employment, better financial management and good health — empowers low-income families to achieve stability and economic success.”
“Making home possible is at the heart of Freddie Mac’s work,” said Ralph F. Boyd, Jr., Freddie Mac’s executive vice president for community relations, who participated in a teleconference with community development practitioners announcing the new resources. “Helping families stay in their homes is also important to us. That’s why we have teamed up with Enterprise to ensure that resident services become a standard tool to help struggling families thrive.”
Resident services programs typically connect residents to child and youth programs such as after-school tutoring, increased school readiness and summer employment and to adult programs offering training in financial literacy, job-readiness, computer skills and leadership development. An on-site resident service coordinator is available to link tenants with service providers in the community.
The following new resources are now available on the Enterprise Web site:
- “Creating Opportunities for Families Through Resident Services: A Practitioner’s Manual” provides guidance and resources for offering effective services to residents. The information is based on best practices implemented during a three-year pilot program with local Enterprise partners in New York; Washington, D.C.; Portland, Ore.; and Rochester, N.Y. The manual will be available in Spanish later this spring.
- “More Than Roof and Walls: Why Resident Services for Families Are an Indispensable Part of Affordable Housing” by Tony Proscio provides a national overview of resident services, including the current state of the field, the benefits (for property managers as well as tenants) and the challenges in funding these services.
- “Program Costs and Staffing Benchmarks for Planning Resident Services for Families” by Gore Flynn provides guidance on the costs of delivering resident services programs, based on an analysis of seven nonprofit housing organizations’ programs.
- “Building Opportunities for Families Into Affordable Housing: How States Are Using the Housing Credit to Encourage Resident Services” by Jim Tassos summarizes how state polices address the need for resident services through their allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits for affordable housing developments. Policies that encourage resident services are described in the report.
- The National Resident Services Collaborative Web site provides information on policy and research, outcome measurement, best practices and training. Enterprise, a member of the collaborative, developed and manages the Web site.
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