By Heather Graves
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – Homelessness – it’s not often a subject of conversation, but for some families in the greater Green Bay area it’s their lives.
Behind the scenes, Ecumenical Partnership for Housing, or EPH, serves as a lifeline to homeless families in the community, giving them that helping hand they need.
“Our mission is to provide safety, stability and solutions, or a pathway to self-sufficiency, for homeless families with children, in (the Green Bay area),” said EPH Executive Director Julie Aderhold.
EPH is a collaboration of 20 area churches.
The organization began as a partnership of four Green Bay area churches and The Salvation Army – all seeking a solution to homelessness in the community.
Since its creation, the partnership has grown to include 20 Green Bay area churches, with the capacity to serve up to 33 families at any given time.
Each partnership church, Aderhold said, appoints a board member, supplies volunteers to care for the interior and exterior of the homes and helps out financially.
In 2017, EPH helped 47 families, consisting of 39 transitional housing families and eight long-term supportive housing families.
EPH is completely funded by the churches, individual donations and private grants.
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Green Bay holds a fundraiser every year to raise funds for the partnership.
This year’s rummage sale raised $1,100 to support EPH programs.
“It feels good to make a difference in our neighborhood, no matter how small,” said Jeanine Limberger, St. Anne’s women’s ministry co-president. “We are making small steps to help others. This program allows those we help to build their self-esteem. An important factor in success.”
EPH has three strategic areas of focus: transitional housing, long-term supportive housing and prevention.
In transitional housing, EPH has the capacity to support 20 families with children.
Aderhold said these families have come directly from homelessness.
The families in transitional housing stay an average of six to 12 months, at no charge.
While there, they work toward self-sufficiency with the guidance of their case manager.
“Transitional housing participants work with their case manager to establish a personal, strength-based goal plan,” Aderhold said.
Educational components of the program include Rent Smart, nutrition classes, budget counseling and parenting skills.
Long-term supportive housing is geared toward families who are ready to leave a shelter or transitional housing but are having difficulty finding a safe and affordable place to live.
The partnership can support 12 families with long-term supportive housing.
EPH owns 11 houses and leases one.
It hopes to purchase two or three more homes this year.
Families are allowed to stay in long-term supportive housing as long as they earn less than 50 percent of the area’s median income.
“Families pay rent relative to their income and situation,” Aderhold said. “The rent and utility responsibility increase as their situation improves. They have responsibilities just like any other like a tenant – things like lawn mowing and snow shoveling.”
Continued case management is provided.
In 2018, EPH began its prevention initiative in hopes of addressing the root causes of homelessness.
“Most of the services within our community begin after a family becomes homeless,” Aderhold said.
EPH has a prevention specialist who works with both families and landlords to prevent evictions.
“This may include working with other agencies who provide emergency funding, a process we call diversion,” Aderhold said. “Our hope is that in the future, most of our community’s efforts go toward prevention rather than addressing the needs after a family becomes homeless.”
According to those involved, the prevention program is a win-win-win situation.
“The program provides benefits to the family, the landlord and the community,” Aderhold said.
The program offers families stability, while avoiding homelessness and the trauma associated with eviction.
Landlords save on eviction costs and keep their rental properties full.
And the community benefits by having fewer homeless families, Aderhold said.
“I think that the energy that surrounds this program is unique,” Limberger said. “We have many hard working individuals who contribute an enormous amount of hours to make this program a success. I have not heard of this being done anywhere else.”