Campaign to End Family Homelessness Launches Year 4!

Ada County, ID – Our Path Home is happy to announce that over $1 million has been allocated to partner agencies for Year 4 of the Campaign to End Family Homelessness. Year 4 is the highest funding year for the initiative so far, directed to agencies providing increased housing services for families experiencing housing instability and homelessness.

The Campaign to End Family Homelessness is a community initiative to end family homelessness in Ada County by 2026. The mission is backed by local funders and leaders that believe no one, but especially Idaho’s children, should ever experience homelessness. The Campaign raised millions of dollars to fund agencies that collaborate on a shared strategy to increase services.

“This effort is a major reason why our community’s response to housing instability and homelessness is as strong as it is today,” said Ali Rabe, Executive Director of Jesse Tree. “To date, with funding through the Campaign, we have been able to target a total of $2.6 million to where it’s needed the most.”

Since the start of the Campaign in 2021, over 1,000 families with children in Ada County have been served by Our Path Home partners’ housing focused programs:

“Our partners have relied on the Campaign to End Family Homelessness over the last three years to make forward progress in the face of rising demand for housing services and this year’s funding will be more important than ever,” said Casey Mattoon, Our Path Home Manager.

Year 4 of the Campaign kicks off as the number of families with children on the housing waitlist increased for the 15th consecutive month. Our Path Home attributes the growth largely to the loss of emergency rental assistance funding and the settling-in of our local housing crisis. Our Path Home partners plan to respond by utilizing Campaign funding to scale up targeted, evidence-based interventions to serve our neighbors.

“With families in our community waiting for a housing solution the team at CATCH has committed to increasing our services through the Campaign,” said Stephanie Day, Executive Direct of CATCH. “We are leveraging funds over the next two years to hire more staff paired with the financial resources our families need to get stably rehoused.”

For Year 4 of the Campaign Our Path Home distributed $1,085,108 to partners at Jesse Tree, CATCH, and the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities.

“The Campaign is Our Path Home’s signal and vehicle of hope for families in Ada County that are being hit hardest by the increased cost of housing,” said Deanna Watson, Executive Director of the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities. “We are invested in continuing the Campaign and invite everyone to join us in building hope together.”

Our Path Home asks for the community to get involved in the Campaign to End Family Homelessness. If you are a property owner or manager, help rehouse families with children in your units by joining Our Path Home’s Dedicated Units Program here.

Anyone can donate funds to our partners at CATCH and Jesse Tree or volunteer with organizations that provide services to families experiencing a housing crisis. And finally, you can get involved with Our Path Home to help build understanding about homelessness and advocate for solutions for our neighbors in Ada County.