Emergency Housing

Emergency Housing provides homeless families with children short-term (up to 90 days) housing and services with a focus on fast re-housing. This quick turn-around works very well when the adults are working or able to become employed right away. The program requires participants to budget and save money, pay off debts, and earn income to support their household.

Eligibility requirements include:

• homeless
• low income
• Pierce County resident
• at least one child 17 or younger living in the home
• willing and able to work

Unlike standard dormitory-style shelters, our innovative approach places families in fully-furnished single-family homes or apartments. The shelves are stocked with food, cleaning, and personal hygiene products, and the children receive age appropriate toys and books. The families do not pay any fees for this program. Relieved of financial burdens, families can concentrate on stabilizing, earning and increasing income, saving money, and developing the tools they need to become self-supporting.

The pivot point of the family’s work at Helping Hand House is their case manager who begins working with them immediately. They meet each week (or more) to develop and implement a family stability plan that identifies their strengths and challenges, includes employment and educational goals, financial management tools, and a results timeline. They develop a household budget and discuss emergent issues as needed. The children’s needs are also discussed and they create their own goals. The individual tailoring of the program and the steady support of the case manager increases the chances for success.

The primary goal of the Emergency Housing program is to move clients to permanent stable housing that they can afford and maintain independently. This requires that participants are able to make good choices, and that they are accountable for those choices. Adults are required to enroll in life-skills classes, especially those that focus on financial literacy. At Helping Hand House, they build the skills that will lead to their success. As the children see their parents succeed, they learn that overwhelming obstacles can be overcome and that things can get better.

As families near the end of their stay with us, their case manager works with them to locate housing and meets with landlords to place families who might otherwise be rejected because of poor credit or prior evictions. When a family requires more than 90 days to stabilize and improve their economic situation, we refer them to transitional housing programs in the area.

To apply for Emergency Housing call 253-848-6096 – extension 12
Monday or Thursday from noon to 3pm ONLY.