Community Services League & Hawthorne Place: A case study of holistic stability through housing and savings
by Kelli Hearn - LISC Greater Kansas City, Financial Stability Program Officer
In 2017, Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) reached out to LISC Greater Kansas City and Community Services League (CSL) to help manage an innovative program at Hawthorne Place. Hawthorne Place Apartments (HPA) is an affordable housing development owned and managed by POAH located about 30 minutes outside downtown Kansas City.
Through the proposed program, residents receiving Section 8 housing vouchers could opt into the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program to increase savings. Normally when Section 8 residents' income increases, it triggers an increase in the rent they pay. Through FSS, the portion that their rent increases is instead deposited into an escrow account which can be accessed for financial goals like homeownership, higher education, and more.
Since this partnership began seven years ago, CSL has fully integrated the Financial Opportunity Center® model at HPA and remarkable things have happened. On average, residents have deposited $9,382 in their escrow savings in less than 5 years. Unemployment rates among participating residents decreased from 30% to just 3%, while full-time employment rates increased by 40%. In total over $1.1 million has been deposited by residents into their escrow accounts. Over 60 people have completed the five-year program, and almost half of them have become homeowners.
When I talked with the staff recently, they stressed the importance of HPA as a community effort, with the residents at the core. In addition to the traditional bundled FOC services, residents also have access to family stability coaches (some of whom are bilingual), therapists, daycare services, a credit union, an onsite food pantry, and more. Other reasons for success included willingness to collaborate at all levels, partnering with organizations that are trauma-informed, understanding and adhering to community development ideology, and inclusive storytelling.
