Housing Families First Wins Community Innovation Grant

We are excited and honored to announce that Housing Families First has been awarded the $500,000 Lora M. and E. Claiborne Robins, Sr. Community Innovation Grant (CIG). “The CIG provides a unique opportunity, and a $500,000 award, for Richmond’s non-profits to propose actionable solutions that will have a meaningful and measurable impact on complex issues that our region has been wrestling with for generations, including homelessness, housing instability, education, workforce development, and health.”

Funding from this grant will support Housing Families First’s partnership with the Richmond Public Schools McKinney-Vento Program, and will provide assistance with housing search, rental applications, lease negotiation, and move-in funds so that unserved students and their families can secure stable housing and end their homelessness. The focus of this partnership will be on the stable housing of students and their families, which will help to improve school attendance, reduce behavioral concerns, improve academic achievement and provide the students and their families the safety and stability that go along with permanent housing.

“A great deal of effort has been made to ensure that every student succeeds academically, but many students, siblings, and their parents have been left behind when it comes to housing,” said Beth Vann-Turnbull, Housing Family First Executive Director. “Housing Families First is thrilled to partner with Richmond Public Schools to help families experiencing homelessness get back into a home of their own.”

This grant will allow Housing Families First to extend our reach and help more families obtain and retain permanent housing, and we are grateful for this opportunity to help students and their families succeed!