Helping communities become a better place to live

Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing

Challenge: The 24 communities in the Normandy school district are typical of many other struggling urban areas. The median household income is about half of the national average. One-fourth of the households are led by a single mother and almost one-fourth of the population is under the poverty line.



Beyond Housing works to provide the support and services low-income families need to achieve their long-term goals, with a mission of helping every community in the Normandy school district become a better place to live. When the organization started in 1975, we focused solely on housing, but our leadership realized that while housing assistance helped, it was just one of the many issues to be addressed if we were going to achieve real impact. The situation required a strategic, comprehensive plan to address core issues faced by residents every day and cause systemic change.

In 2010, Beyond Housing secured a $3 million funding commitment and began a five-year odyssey to turn the vision of building a thriving community into reality with a network of passionate leaders and volunteers focused on the mantra "Ask, Align, Act." We began by listening, hosting 450 community meetings in one year featuring residents weighing in with their experiences, needs and ideas for an entirely new community.

The result was the 24:1 initiative, which represents 24 municipalities with one vision for strong communities, engaged families and successful children. Education is key to giving individuals the tools to live a successful life, so we partnered with the Normandy school district. We learned that kindergarten students arrived unprepared for the structure and learning requirements, setting them up for failure before their school careers even began. This discovery led to the creation of 5ByAge5, a Pre-K program to prepare children starting at age 2½ for success in kindergarten and beyond.

Most children living in the 24:1 area grow up believing they will never be able to afford college. To instill hope for a better future, we began teaching financial literacy and offered both a $3-to-$1 matched college savings program and 529 college savings accounts with a starting gift of $500 for every student entering kindergarten. Over 1,400 accounts have been opened with a waiting list based upon need and resources.

Other initiatives were smaller but impactful. For example, after learning that many kids didn't want to come to school because their clothes were dirty and there was no way to wash them at home, we provided schools with washers and dryers so students can wear clean school clothes with pride. Similar holistic investments remove roadblocks so children have a clearer path to high school graduation, college and beyond.

One of the biggest challenges we face is moving at the speed of trust. We came to the 24:1 communities with knowledge about housing and a passionate desire to provide helpful resources, but we first had to gain the trust of people who had been promised much but experienced little help for decades. We started with infrastructure construction so that residents would see physical signs of improvement and (literally) concrete examples that we were listening to their requests, were passionate about helping and had the resources to turn our good intentions into real, lasting, practical support.

Sheena, an assistant manager at a 24:1 cinema, says she would be on the streets if not for 24:1. Beyond Housing helped her find her job, a home for her family and the services of the Early Childhood Center for her child.

Eboni, who bounced from one homeless shelter to another as a child, recently graduated with a journalism degree from Columbia University after four years on a full scholarship. With help from the college savings program and other Beyond Housing programs, Eboni saw a path through high school not just to college, but an Ivy League school.

Sheena, Eboni and others have found the path to success, but there is still a long road ahead. Our next challenge is to scale up services, reach many more than the 10 to 15 percent of residents and students currently served and continue building infrastructure so that students, families and residents of all ages can find their personal path to success.

Beyond Housing has learned, sometimes painfully, that communication and transparency are key to growing trust. If a new program doesn't go the way we hoped, we go to the community, find out what went wrong and regroup. Instead of getting overwhelmed by the weight of what needs to be done, little wins inspire us. It's helping someone get into a home and obtain a job say, "You have no idea the difference you've made in my family's life." Beyond Housing tackles a heavy load of deep systemic problems, but we are inspired by the ability of the residents to thrive with even a little assistance.

There still is no quick fix for all the problems that exist in these communities even with the $75 million dollars we have invested over the past four years. Beyond Housing has created a model for success that we can and will successfully replicate, improving family life and building strong, healthy communities for generations to come.