Homelessness Prevention Services

Homebase

RiseBoro Community Partnership has distinguished itself as the premier Homebase provider in New York City. We provide services to ensure community residents can stay in their homes and avoid homelessness. RiseBoro now operates four sites across eight zip codes in Brooklyn that assist households facing eviction and/or housing instability and need financial assistance to remain permanently housed.

Homebase provides comprehensive outreach and assessment of households within our zip code catchment area. Enrolled residents receive individualized homelessness prevention case management and tailored service plans that address immediate crises and foster long term housing stability. In partnership with our legal program, Homebase also provides in-house legal assistance and tenants’ rights workshops. Our on-site financial coaches work with each resident to resolve issues related to personal finances. Homebase also provides aftercare services for recently relocated households from shelter, as well as access to rental subsidies, such as CityFHEPS.

What We Do

• Emergency rental assistance
• Level Up! Workforce Development Program
• In-house financial coaching
• Landlord/tenant mediation
• Public benefits, healthcare screening and enrollment (Food Support Connections program)
• Tenants’ rights seminars
• In-house staff attorneys
• Community referrals for supportive service

*If you have a child in School districts 23 & 17, inquire about our School-based Housing Instability Program (SHIP)  

* If you are ineligible for Homebase due to income, find out about the Community Roots Program

Steps from Home

Steps from Home (formerly STEHP) provides rapid re-housing assistance for families with children and individuals to obtain permanent housing and relocate from shelter. The program’s case managers and housing specialists provided targeted support, including housing navigation, case management, follow up and financial assistance. Steps from Home also offers legal and preventative services for households earning less than 30% of AMI to avoid eviction and remain permanently housed.

What We Do

• Re-housing and placement services
• Intensive case management services
• Access to housing legal services
• Financial literacy and coaching services
• Third-party mediation
• Public benefits advocacy
• Community referrals for supportive services
• Referrals to employment services

Housing Navigation Services

In collaboration with OneCity Health and New York City Health+ Hospitals, RiseBoro provides housing navigation services at Woodhull and Kings County Hospitals. Each location is staffed by a full-time Housing Navigator, who meets with patients and assists in determining eligibility for housing programs and services across the City. Navigators screen for eviction prevention services, shelter-related services, supportive housing, safe haven options, among others. Patients referred by their Primary Care Provider and/or Social Worker may meet with the Housing Navigator.

What We Do

• In-person or phone consultations with referred NYC H+H patients who are experiencing housing instability
• Referrals to programs based on eligibility
• Follow-up sessions, as determined necessary by the Navigator

FASTEN

In 2020, RiseBoro initiated the FASTEN program- Funds and Services for Tenants Experiencing Need. This privately-funded initiative aims to help vulnerable tenants, particularly those otherwise ineligible for Homebase due to their immigration status, stay in their homes in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis by connecting them to financial assistance, including rent relief. Populations served include fully undocumented immigrant households, and single adults and adult families who would not otherwise be found eligible under Homebase guidelines.

What We Do

• Short-term, emergency rental assistance for undocumented immigrants and/or mixed-status households
• Screening and assisting with city, state and federal benefits and referrals
• Case management to support housing preservation, relocation, financial literacy and landlord mediation
• Assistance addressing barriers to employment
• Financial coaching for all clients served by this program

Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP)

RiseBoro is a provider of The New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) to Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods. We provide significant economic relief to help low and moderate-income households at risk of homelessness or housing instability by providing rental arrears, temporary rental assistance, and utility arrears assistance. If you or someone you know is interested in receiving help to stay in a home, contact us for application assistance.

Eligibility

• Household gross income is at or below 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI)
• On or after March 13, 2020, a member of the household received unemployment benefits or experienced a reduction in income, incurred significant costs or experienced financial hardship, directly or indirectly
• The applicant is obligated to pay rent at their primary residence and has rental arrears (rent overdue) at their current residence for rent owed on or after March 13, 2020.
• The household must be at risk of experiencing homelessness or housing instability, which can be demonstrated by having rental arrears owed on or after March 13, 2020.

Home4Good

An Innovative Approach to Eviction Prevention and Arrears Collection 

Home 4 Good is a portfolio-based eviction prevention program that proactively identifies and assists tenants experiencing rental arrears and at risk of eviction. The program provides comprehensive eviction prevention and arrears assistance services to help landlords recoup rental arrears and navigate the administrative complexities of rental assistance programs, while seeking to reduce the burden on property management staff, maintain tenancy, avoid housing court, and improve tenant housing stability in the long-term. 

About the Program 

To make eviction prevention resources available to more New Yorkers further upstream, Enterprise Community Partners, RiseBoro Community Partnership and L+M Development Partners designed this program and partnership model to utilize landlord referrals, enabling service providers to directly engage tenants experiencing rental arrears. With up-front investment from Maycomb Capital, the program utilizes an outcomes-based financing model to mitigate risk for participating landlords, who only pay for set tenant outcomes that are achieved. This proactive approach helps both landlords and tenants save on the cost and the subsequent trauma of eviction, provides landlords with a net financial saving, and better equips tenants to consistently pay rent in the future. 

Summary of Program Services and Key Outcomes 

Home 4 Good partners directly with landlords to assists tenants experiencing rental arrears due to non-payment of rent. Enrolled tenants receive eviction prevention services for up to one year after program Housing Navigators conduct an intake assessment to identify a tenant’s needs, level of arrears, and develop a housing stability plan. 

Through Home 4 Good, dedicated Housing Navigators work with tenants to secure short-term rental assistance; apply for, recertify, or restore longer-term housing subsidy programs; and connect tenants to a range of benefits to support their overall housing stability needs. In-house Financial Coaches will also work with tenants to assess and address key drivers of financial instability. Ultimately, Home 4 Good bridges the connection to services for tenants at risk of eviction and seeks to achieve the following outcomes: 

 A Win-Win-Win Approach 

With its innovative approach, Home 4 Good seeks to drive benefits and positive outcomes for all engaged stakeholders, including participating landlords, tenants and city government partners: 

Landlords	Tenants	City
Increased rental payments from tenants due to navigation services and holistic supports  Cost effectiveness of upstream prevention – Home 4 Good costs ~$2,500/tenant, vs. minimum eviction cost of ~$12,000  No financial risk due to outcome payment model  Referrals to providers reduce time spent on rent collections and tracking down tenants	Access to services before they are in crisis  Work with experienced service providers who build trust and provide access to appropriate services – Homebase, financial coaching, etc.  Increased financial assistance, as navigators help with high-quality applications and reduce administrative burden  Improved ability to pay rent and remain housed  Reduced trauma from eviction and housing court	Better outcomes for at-risk tenants, stemming the tide of current housing crisis  Improved economic viability of the City’s affordable housing stock, which is under threat from arrears crisis  Reduced downstream costs of housing court, shelter, and other services due to early intervention  Innovative partnership aligning landlords, tenants, and service providers  Leveraging $5 million investment in eviction prevention, complementing the City’s ongoing commitment to housing stability

Benefits of Home 4 Good 

RiseBoro and Enterprise seek to engage a select number of landlords aligned with the mission of upstream eviction prevention to participate in the expansion of Home 4 Good. Benefits of the program include: 

• Proactively facilitating direct connections to eviction prevention services and resources for tenants, instead of requiring tenants to pursue assistance 
• Reducing legal costs, property management burden, and the cost of vacancies and turnovers due to eviction 
• Minimizing the hassle and delay of collecting past due balances, resolving administrative issues with rental assistance and subsidies, and the overall negative impact that housing court presents to both the tenant and property owner 
• Improving relationships and building trust between tenants and landlords by leveraging supportive and upstream prevention practices 
• Participating poses no financial risk to landlords, as payments are only made when positive outcomes are achieved 

The up-front financing provided by Maycomb Capital enables Home 4 Good to initiate services immediately and begin to enroll and connect referred tenants to assistance. Participating landlords are later charged set costs for outcomes that are achieved on behalf of tenants (i.e. a “fee-for-service” model). 

Results from an Initial Small-Scale Pilot 

This initiative was born out of the Eviction Prevention Roundtable, a collaborative effort by a broad set of affordable housing stakeholders convened in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Home 4 Good initially launched in 2021 as a 12-month pilot program serving tenants of L+M. This small-scale effort offered an important opportunity to refine the service model and achieved the following outcomes: 

• 112 tenants were enrolled (out of 314 referred tenants) 
• All but 4 tenants received some form of arrears assistance 
• >$1mil in arrears was repaid to L+M 
• All tenants were referred for financial coaching and/or other supportive services 

Expanding and Scaling Home 4 Good 

Building on the success of the initial pilot, RiseBoro and Enterprise partnered with Maycomb Capital to expand Home 4 Good and scale up the program over a 3-year period. The pilot expansion seeks to serve almost 2,500 tenants, leveraging partnerships with 6 to 8 affordable housing landlords across New York City. Program partners aim to conduct a rigorous evaluation of the program, focused on its scalability, a cost-benefit analysis, and short- and long-term outcomes achieved for tenants, landlords and other stakeholders.

Community Roots

RiseBoro Homebase will make homelessness prevention services available to at-risk, low-income households that are currently ineligible for Homebase. Programming is possible because of the generosity of Trinity Church Wall Street

Who is Eligible for Community Roots?

• Those ineligible for Homebase services who are over income
• Under 50% Area Median Income (Visit gov for the 2021 AMI to find your income level)
• Experiencing At-Risk of Eviction
• Brooklyn Residents with a focus on these neighborhoods: Bushwick, BedStuy, Brownsville, East New York, Crown Heights, and East Flatbush

How can Community Roots help you?:

• We can offer financial assistance
• We provide your household with case management
• You have access to our Financial Coaches for individualized planning
• Direct referral to RiseBoro’s legal services
• We assist with accessing public benefits such as:
  • One-Shot Deal
  • Public rental subsidies
  • Emergency Rental Assistance Program

Homebase SHIP

The RiseBoro SHIP initiative (School-based Housing Instability Program) aims to engage households with potential risk early to avoid court action, instability, potential shelter. Housing instability may affect your children’s school attendance. The School-based Housing Instability Program can help you!

Please reach out to SHIP at RiseBoro if:

• Your child lives in Zip Code 11212 and attend School Districts 23 or 17
• Your household is experiencing housing insecurity
  • Struggling to pay the monthly rent
  • Overcrowding/financial hardship

SHIP can help your household with the following:

• Financial assistance
• Individualized case management
• Additional supportive services