Fresh Start working towards ending homelessness in Dallas

Each year in Dallas, the city’s Fresh Start Housing Assistance Program helps nearly 200 citizens and families move into stable and reliable housing to help them get back on their feet. The program is a response to a national initiative called “Housing First“, which asks cities to help end chronic homelessness by helping people move out of shelters and into permanent housing.

Families pay 30 percent of their adjusted income or a minimum of $5 per month for rent and utilities, with grant programs making up the difference. The property owner receives fair market rent, and the family gets a decent, affordable home that meets HUD standards. Participating units must also pass a Housing Quality Standards inspection conducted by the City.

Fresh Start provides rental assistance and support to homeless and their families, including ex-offenders. Support services help participants become self-sufficient by developing skills and increasing their income. Services include individual needs assessments; monthly home visits; health care and behavioral health care; housing placement; job training and placement; substance abuse treatment; and food and transportation assistance.

A Supported Housing homeless services case manager is assigned to each participant to provide intensive case management, ensuring that services fit the needs of each participant. Case managers connect people with mainstream resources including Medicaid, SNAP, WIC, SSI/SSDI and veteran services as well as federal, state or local benefits they may be eligible to receive.

The local Continuum of Care is managed by Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance.  A yearly consolidated grant application is submitted to HUD for funding. The application includes 41 renewal projects totaling about $16,889,355. The City of Dallas is grantee for five of these renewal projects in the amount of $3,174,719, for 331 housing units.

While transitional housing is allowed, the emphasis is on permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing, with a special focus on the chronically homeless, homeless families and homeless veterans.