Gratitude for ARCH by HomeScreen
As we head into the Thanksgiving holiday, we want to express our gratitude to all of our partners who make Tower Grove Community Development Corporation (TGCDC) successful. Community development work is only possible when you engage and collaborate with the community. Our partnerships are essential to one of TGCDC’s newer programs, ARCH by HomeScreen: At-risk Renters’ Connection to Housing. We launched ARCH about three years ago and have since partnered with over 250 landlords and 80 nonprofit organizations to find and secure housing for over 160 households. One of our nonprofit partners, Places for People works to improve the physical and behavioral health of individuals, families, and communities. In 2023, Places for People used ARCH to find housing for two of their clients. We are sharing their stories below, but changing the names of the applicants in order to protect their privacy.
John is a veteran who had been living on the streets for over five years. John was engaged with Coordinated Entry and homeless services while on the street and continued to work as he waited for a permanent housing voucher. He finally received his voucher last year, but John is a senior and did not have the technical skills to look for housing online. He had applied for a few places but was denied due to a felony conviction from over ten years ago. He was at risk of losing the voucher he had waited years to secure until the ARCH property was listed. The property manager who listed the property, a quiet two-family building, is also a veteran and understood John’s desire to not be in a larger building with many tenants around. This was the first unit John toured that felt like home. After going through the HomeScreen screening process, John was approved to move in June and has been successfully housed since.
Jan was unstably housed for several years due to domestic violence. Like John, she was able to secure a permanent housing voucher through Coordinated Entry while couch surfing and staying in shelters. She found a rental unit she liked on ARCH by HomeScreen and submitted her application, but discovered an eviction on her record from several years ago. Places for People worked with the landlord to accept an additional deposit and allowed Jan to move forward with the lease. She hugged the walls of the apartment during the lease signing. Jan has now been safely housed for six months and enjoys spending time relaxing on her porch.
TGCDC is looking forward to forming partnerships with additional landlords to be able to share more stories like these in 2024. If you or anyone you know is interested in sharing your rental properties on ARCH by HomeScreen, please contact Ella Gross at ella@towergrovecdc.org
Thank you!!! Happy Thanksgiving!