Homeless Families Foundation, Career, and Life Changing Interventions

The Homeless Families Foundation (HFF) believes in creating a hopeful, nurturing environment for families and children where they are engaged in year-round education, housing assistance, and supportive services. Let read through to know more about the Homeless Families Foundation.

HFF has a variety of programs to empower struggling families and expectant mothers to achieve stable housing and self-sufficiency.

The HFF Dowd Education Center educates and nurtures children, Pre-K through 8th grade, from the Franklinton community and beyond, with afterschool and summer programs, and home visits that provide both education and intervention.

An overview of the Foundation

The Homeless Families’ Foundation was founded in 1986 by community members who believed it was unacceptable for any child to be homeless. That same belief continues to fuel the mission that is crucial in breaking the cycle of homelessness.

HFF began operations with five modest apartments and an all-volunteer staff. Today HFF uses a Rapid Re-housing model that moves families directly into permanent housing and continues to provide case management and support until the family becomes stable. 

To help families address the complex factors that affect their stability HFF provides and/or connects them with crisis intervention, literacy, and basic education skill-building, workforce training and placement, parenting education, mental health/substance assessment, and counseling.

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Homeless Families Foundation Housing

The Homeless Families Foundation embraces a holistic, strength-based, housing-first philosophy in serving homeless families and youth. The foundation works with those referred to our homeless program. 

The first step to achieving stability is to meet the housing needs of families and youth by providing housing assistance.

Once safely housed, case managers work with families and youth to create individualized stability plans to address their unique challenges to remain stable.

Plans often include applying for benefits that increase household income, finding or improving employment, behavioral health and addiction services, credit repair, legal services, and education/training opportunities, etc.

HFF Case Managers and Specialists meet families/youth “where they are” by providing mobile and home-based meetings.

By recognizing that each stabilization journey is unique and requires different strategies and services that take advantage of each family/youth’s strengths, experience, and circumstances.

Homeless families Foundation Programs

The Homeless Families Foundation consistently works to educate children and empower families on the road to self-sufficiency.  HFF annually assists over 1,000 children and over 700 families. 

At the very core, Homeless Families Foundation serves youth and their families living in poverty, helping them to secure housing and resources to stabilize their lives while providing educational programming and support for kids.

It believes that educating at-risk and impoverished youth and stabilizing families is crucial to break the cycle of homelessness.

When families leave our care, they are empowered to help themselves and provide a stable living environment for their kids. When children leave our care, they will understand the value of education and be prepared for lifelong learning.

The Homeless Families Foundation Careers

Housing Case Manager – Homeless Services for Pregnant Women

This position reports to the Director of Homeless Services for Pregnant Women and is responsible for providing housing stability services for pregnant mothers and their families.

Housing services including intake, assessment, housing stabilization, advocacy, home visits, and linkage to community resources.

Housing Case Manager – Transitional Age Youth

This position reports to the Director of Transitional Age Youth (TAY) Services and is responsible for providing housing case management services for homeless Transition Age Youth (age 18-24) including intake, assessment, housing search and placement, home visits, and linkage to community resources.

The case manager will operate as a member of a Transition Age Youth team.

Housing Case Manager – Prevention

This position reports to the Director of Homeless Prevention and is responsible for providing housing case management services for families who are unstably housed and/or at risk of homelessness.

Housing services including intake, assessment, housing stabilization, advocacy, home visits, and linkage to community resources. The Case Manager will operate as a member of the Homeless Prevention team.

Teacher – Summer Program

This position reports to the Associate Director of Education and provides a positive learning environment using developmentally appropriate ways when teaching participants of the Dowd Education Center.

Homeless Families’ Foundation Family Stabilization

Homeless Families Foundation services gradually decrease and ultimately end when families have the resources needed to remain housed, however, HFF is prepared to help families if they begin to slide toward instability.

Family Stabilization 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.

Family Stabilization includes short-term and medium-term case management and referrals along with a variety of financial and material assistance options.

Homeless Families’ Foundation Education

The Homeless Families Foundation believes that education is the key to eliminating homelessness for future generations.

HFF education services provide programs that focus on the needs of each individual student nad supports academic progress, youth development, and healthy families.

The Homeless Families Foundation Dowd Education Center provides STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) focused academic programming for children in grades K-8. 

The Center has both afterschool and summer programs that provide both education and intervention that support the Ohio Department of Education standards and local school curriculums. 

Other activities provided to enhance social skills, self-esteem and overall health include homemade nutritious meals daily. Fitness and recreation activities; field trips; and, presentations from outside agencies that support education and well-being.  

For years now, the Dowd Education Center has been centered around Project-Based Learning pedagogy. At the Dowd, think is best for youth development.

That is, offering real-world challenges and problems to our youth to acquire a deeper knowledge through active exploration.

Doing prevention education for our youth, especially in their cultural context, aids in building safe and strength in West Columbus. The students forming our group come from within the Dowd Education Center enrollment, both present and past students.

Students grade K-8 are enrolled with the Dowd coming from Columbus City, Southwestern City, and Charter Schools.