THE HOMELESS FAMILIES FOUNDATION
Not one child. Not one night.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The Homeless Families Foundation (HFF) believes families deserve and have a right to housing, economic and educational stability. In 2020, HFF served 662 families and 1,379 children, providing wrap around services to address their housing, economic and educational needs. Homelessness increased during the pandemic as families lost day care, in-person school, and jobs. Many are facing eviction and others are just struggling to stay housed. HFF clients live below the Federal Poverty Level, with many having zero income when they come into the program. Students served by the HFF Dowd Education Center (DEC) come from families living in Columbus' west side neighborhood. In the primary service area, Franklinton, 48% of residents live below the poverty line; 100% of the children in DEC programming have family income at or below $16,896 (30% of the median income level, for Franklin County. HFF provides integrated, comprehensive housing and education programming that transforms lives.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Rapid Re-housing
Rapid Re-Housing helps homeless families living in shelter move into stable housing. Families living in shelter are referred to HFF for this program.
Rapid Re-housing Intensive
Rapid Re-housing Intensive helps families who have been in shelter multiple times. Families living in hsleter are referred to HFF for this program
Homeless Prevention for Expectant Mothers (HPEM)
HPEM provides housing and supportive services to improve the health and well-being of mother and child.
Housing Assistance for Transitional Age Youth (TAY)
TAY provides housing assitance and programming when the head of household is 18 to 24 years old.
Success Bridge
Success Bridge provides housing assistance and supportive services for Columbus State college students.
Family Stability
Family Stability is a safety net for all within the HFF sphere of influence. It provides financial and material assistance along with supportive services to prevent families from becoming homeless again.
Housing Now for Homeless Families
Housing Now provides assistance to families with a minor child or someone at least six months pregnant that are experiencing a housing crisis.
HFF Dowd Education Center
The HFF Dowd Education Center offered programming as a Learning Extension Center for Columbus City Schools during the pandemic. The Center recently returned to afterschool and summer programs supporting STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) focused education, while providing support for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), Skill Building, and Education/Career Exploration.
SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids)
SPARK provides in-home educational services to help parents teach their children the skills needed to begin kindergarten. SPARK is offered in both English and Spanish.
Youth Led
Youth Led, a program for youth ages 13-18, in partnership with ADAMH (Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board), offers leadership training and programs giving students technology and communications skills.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of homeless participants engaged in housing services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families, Homeless people, Young adults
Related Program
Rapid Re-housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
The Homeless Families Foundation provides housing assistance to homeless families and this is the number of families served annually.
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, At-risk youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the number of children in grade K-8 who participated in the HFF Dowd Education Center afterschool and/or summer camp programs. This number is going down as retention increases.
Number of participants attending course/session/workshop
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Infants and toddlers, Economically disadvantaged people
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This is the number of children, ages 3-5, who participated in the SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Prepare REady Kids) in-home lessons to improve school readiness.
Number of families with issues threatening stable housing.
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Families
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Families who were stabilized as part of the Beyond Housing program.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Homeless Families Foundation believes it is unacceptable for any child in Columbus to be homeless. Not one child. Not one night. Our goal is to end family homelessness by stabilizing families, educating children, and surrounding the most vulnerable among us with a caring community of support.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Key strategies that will guide The Homeless Families Foundation over the next three years include:
Develop integrated, comprehensive, person-centered educational programming from cradle to career (1-18 years old). This includes the SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids) an in-home program to prepare children and families for Kindergarten; the afterschool and summer programs for K-12 that focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) activities, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and life/leadership skill building. HFF will obtain 5 new collaborative partners to increase student/family education and economic stability.
Develop integrated, comprehensive, person-centered programming across the housing continuum, including families and transitional age youth. This includes rapid rehousing that moves families out of shelter and into permanent housing; wrap around services that provide financial and material assistance, while also providing linkages to other community resources. HFF is also planning to develop and implement a new Permanent Supportive Housing project for homeless families.
Our goals for the next three years are to: increase the number of families served by 20%; increase successful stability outcomes by 5%; and increase funding for programs and services while maintaining administrative/fundraising costs at a maximum of 15%.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
The Homeless Families Foundation has been providing children and families with hope of a better future for 35 years. We have built collaborative relationships throughout the community to provide diverse programs that help stabilize families and educate children. We are a partner agency of the Community Shelter Board that coordinates programs in Central Ohio to help the homeless. We partner with the Columbus City Schools (CCS) at the HFF Dowd Education Center to support the CCS curriculum and to get the needed data and services for the children we serve. Annually, we successfully raise and manage a budget that reached $10 M for 2021, including several large grants that support our programs. We a have a dedicated, caring staff that goes above and beyond to help the children and families we serve.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2020, The Homeless Families Foundation (HFF) pivoted during the pandemic to continue to serve homeless families, transitional age youth and students who were missing in-person education. HFF provided assistance to 662 families, including 1,379 children. HFF provided 541 Financial Assistance Packages for non-funded rent, utilities, transportation costs, application fees, etc.; 1,844 material items needed to care for babies, children and adults including move-in kits, baby items, cleaning supplies, school supplies, holiday gifts, etc.; and 1,174 food orders to families. The HFF Dowd Education Center (DEC) provided in-person and/or virtual educational programming to 106 pre-K students and their families, 167 K-8 students, and 26 high school students. They also supported 163 families with food deliveries, school supplies and/or case management to help them weather the instability caused by the pandemic. HFF continues to be active in our community, assessing the needs, and developing programs that address the needs of families and children.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
THE HOMELESS FAMILIES FOUNDATION
Board of directorsas of 09/23/2021
Douglas John
Hexion, Inc.
Term: 2021 - 2022
Amy Robinson
Safelite Autoglass
Term: 2018 - 2021
Jim Houk
OHM
Douglas Johns
Hexion, Inc.
Jeffrey Matthews
The Arlington Group
Richard J. Miller
Lifestyle Communities
Lou Ann Ransom
Craig T. Rhoades
American Electric Power
Marcus J. Salter
Access Ohio
Heather Ward
White Castle
Glenn Watson
Grange Insurance
MIchelle White
Victoria's Secret
Dean Bruno
Columbia Pipeline Group Inc.
Scott Green
Park National Bank
Eric Saunders
EY (Ernst & Young LLP)
Joanna Allen
OutcomesMTM
Sarah Bednar
CoverMyMeds
Scott Diener
NiSource
Shawn Dorsey
Huntington National Bank
Chris Fackler
Ringside Talent
Tammara Flagler
Nationwide Insurance
Michelle McLaughlin
Wexner Medical Center and Health Science Colleges, OSU
Amit Patel
Hotel Equities Group
Stacy Pollock
PollockLaw LLC
Adam Slinger
WSYX/WTTE-TV
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes