For the past 18 months, Our House has managed a federal stimulus grant targeted at helping homeless persons transition into permanent housing.  Through the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Rehousing (HPRP) grant, Our House has helped 40 families move into their own homes by providing more than $143,000 in assistance with rent, utilities, and deposits.  Our HPRP program provided a stepping stone for these families to help ease the difficult move from homelessness to life on their own, with our assistance payments steadily reduced, in order to provide a gradual transition to independence. 

One family that benefitted from this program was Leah Weathers and her son. They lived at Our House for 10 months before moving, with help from our HPRP program, into their own apartment, which was within walking distance of her son’s school and also very near her job.  She re-enrolled in college and continues to work on improving her family’s future. 

Our House’s HPRP program is winding down, with the last assistance payments set for July. HPRP was a part of the 2009 federal stimulus grant, and it was always intended to be a short-term program.  Although the assistance funding will soon end, we have learned a great deal about how to help homeless families succeed after they move out, and we are planning to continue providing other types of support to our clients to help them succeed in permanent housing.