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Reston Interfaith's HOUSE Program Press Conference

Partners in Ending Homelessness

I would like to first thank Kerrie Wilson, CEO, of Reston Interfaith. You need great partners if you're to successfully meet the challenge of homelessness. You just can't go it alone, and Reston Interfaith has a strong track record of supporting affordable housing. (And early childhood development.) In fact in the early 1970's Reston Interfaith was busy building the first workforce housing apartments in the area – Laurel Glade Apartments.

Reston Interfaith is also a leading advocate for the homeless. They joined with others in Fairfax County and successfully advocated for one penny of county real estate tax be devoted to affordable housing. In the first two years, the fund generated $40 million and preserved more than 1,500 units.  [From "Beyond Charity: Recognizing Return on Investment," The Nonprofit Roundtable, 2007]

They are also a recipient of our company's signature "Hoops for the Homeless" tournament fund-raiser, and they will be again this year. That's how much we value their experience and talent.

I would also like to acknowledge Congressman Jim Moran. Ending homelessness means building strong coalitions and connections. And Congressman Moran is one of the strongest links in that chain. He has been a great supporter of the Freddie Mac Foundation's work across Northern Virginia. We are very appreciative of his partnership on a whole range of issues – from child development to helping the homeless.

Finally I would like to thank Gerry Connolly Chairman, Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County. As mentioned by our speakers, nearly two years ago Freddie Mac and the Freddie Mac Foundation partnered with Gerry Connolly and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to convene the Community Summit to End Homelessness.

Since the Summit, we've worked hard to stay the course and remain actively involved in helping develop the 10-year plan to end homelessness in Fairfax County. Note that the fundamental premise of this plan is NOT to "deal with" or "manage" the problem of homelessness. Instead, it's a plan to end homelessness, and I salute Gerry and the Fairfax Board of Supervisors for ambitious goal.

As Freddie Mac's COO said to Gerry back at that Summit, "when it comes to ending homelessness, we stand ready to act." What was said then, still holds true today. That's why the Freddie Mac Foundation is today joining with Gerry and the Board to help launch the new HOUSE program. It's one more step toward our Summit's goal of ending homelessness.

Housing First Strategy & Imperative of Residential Services

In a time of declining government budgets and the dramatic tightening of mortgage markets, Freddie Mac and the Foundation are responding by investing more resources on solutions that meet the challenge of homelessness and affordable housing – of which the "HOUSE" program is a great example. 34 town homes built and now occupied by 128 family members. Now this is real progress!

This initiative of putting families in permanent housing with residential services is essential to helping ensure families remain self sufficient in our community. This program is actually part of a national movement or strategy defined by the tag line of  "Housing First." And it's based upon several prepositions:

First, while there are times when emergency shelters and transitional housing (which can last up to two years) are needed, the key to stabilizing vulnerable families is to quickly find them PERMANENT homes. 

Second, families are more receptive to social service support AFTER they are in their own home, rather than BEFORE, while they are living in temporary shelters or transitional facilities.

Third, long-term housing can not only launch a homeless family quicker on the road to self-sufficiency, but it's a better use of our investment capital. As one expert [Phil Managano head of the Interagency Council on Homelessness] nicely summed up the situation, "the old status quo responses of ad hoc crisis intervention are more expensive.

Now, the Freddie Mac Foundation's three year, half-a-million dollar investment in the Reston Interfaith's HOUSE program will center mainly on providing resident services. We believe these services are essential to help stabilize vulnerable families – and which is a renewed focus of our Foundation's investments.

There's abundant, emerging evidence that resident services are as essential as bricks and mortar are to the survival, stability, and well being of families in need. It's clear that there's a strong nexus between successful affordable housing developments and effective resident service programs.

The services we'll be helping fund over the three-year period include vocational and educational training to increase each family's income and help get them ABOVE the federal poverty level. We're also providing preventive health treatments, like vaccinations and regular check-ups for children. (Remember, it wasn't long ago that a local child died because of the lack of timely dental work).

I've personally seen how supportive housing and services can positively impact the lives of families – it not only changes their aspirations, but their expectations of what of they can achieve. That's why I look forward to hearing Sylvia's [new townhouse resident and the following speaker] remarks on what she believes she can accomplishment for herself, and her three children as a part of the Interfaith HOUSE program.

Unleashing Talent

Overall, the resident services provided should help stabilize Sylvia's and other Interfaith supported families, and get them on the road to self-sufficiency and prosperity.

To chart their advancement, we've developed a number of metrics – that include measuring the income gains of each family, and the number of children meeting Kindergarten learning levels. This is the best way we know how to gage the effectiveness and efficiency of our investments – at the Foundation we define it as an "outcomes" based approach to philanthropy.

While targets and definable outcomes are an important tool to gauge our successes, nothing can truly measure the gains in human potential our investments will have on these new Reston tenants.

Together, we've taken a big step toward our goal of ending homelessness in Fairfax County, and equally important, unleashing the talents and abilities of its most vulnerable families.