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Charleston Regional Business Journal
August 20 , 2006
The Humanities Foundation has kept some 14,000 people off the streets by offering financial assistance to prevent landlords from evicting tenants.
Through the ShelterNet program started in 1995, the Humanities Foundation provides one-time emergency funds to low-income individuals and families that have fallen behind on their bills. Last year, the foundation kept 645 families from homelessness. According to the foundation, it can take as little as $150 to prevent a family from losing its home, but cost as much as $1,800 to move the family back in.
"The foundation was started in 1992, (three years) after Hurricane Hugo hit. The disaster brought out some unique issues facing the Charleston area," says John Henry, executive director. "The foundation grew from the disaster and had the vision to see beyond that and the development of new programs."
Some 100 social services, mental health agencies, hospitals, schools and churches rely on this nonprofit to provide, "housing from the heart" for their clients. The Humanities Foundation has plans to expand into Virginia and Florida in an effort to keep the American dream alive for low-income families. However, the biggest challenge is obtaining funds. Since its creation, the Humanities Foun dation has leveraged almost $3 million in Community Development Block Grants; about $40 million in federal funds from the HOME Investment Partnership Pro gram; and tapped into the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
Since 1992, the foundation has developed 600 rental units of affordable housing, with another 156 units under construction and 72 units in pre-development providing homes for more than 850 low-to-moderate-income families, including those with special needs, the working poor, people with disabilities, single mothers and senior citizens.
The homes are badly needed. Income levels have remained flat, while housing prices have increased 20%, Henry says. In the Lowcountry, the average two-bed room apartment costs $663 a month. A person would have to make $12.75 an hour to afford that price, basically twice the minimum wage, he says.
Add to that the "condo explosion." As apartment units are turned into condos and prices go up or condos are sold, many families are forced out with nowhere to go. The U.S. Conference of Mayors cited the fastest growing group of homeless people as families with children. They make up about 36% of the people who currently become homeless. The Humanities Foundation is currently working with a profit developer to build a mixed-use community of houses in downtown Charleston adjacent to the South Carolina Aquarium.
"This is not a job where you punch the clock. The staff works hard and we believe in the mission," Henry says. "There's no better reward in this work than when we get to carrying in a bed and pots and pans tor a tenant that's moving into a new home."
Sltaniion Caratinuvh
