EPB has partnered with the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, to launch Connect For Good an effort to raise awareness about ways to help people get back into permanent housing.
“People experiencing homelessness look like you and me, our children and our family members,” said Mike Smith, executive director, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition. “It’s troubling to think of our loved ones facing the uncertainty of not having a home to call their own, but attainable solutions are in reach with just a little help.”
Through Connect For Good people are encouraged to donate to the Flexible Housing Fund, which is managed and dispersed by the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition. The fund helps people experiencing homelessness overcome barriers to housing by providing support for back rent, utility payments, rent payments, application fees and other needs that help bridge the gap to housing. The fund supplements existing community resources and fills gaps in needs not covered by other agencies.
Connect For Good aligns with Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly’s “One Chattanooga” plan. The plan aims to close long-standing opportunity gaps across the city, including those related to housing security.
“The causes of homelessness are complex and multifaceted, and so our solutions must be as well,” said Mayor Kelly. “The Flexible Housing Fund allows us to deploy life-saving resources to people in need, while we continue to work toward longer-term solutions like affordable housing and workforce development. Homelessness is not a challenge we can solve overnight, but if we come together as Chattanoogans in the spirit of love and giving, we can do a whole lot for our homeless community this holiday season.”
The Homeless Coalition strives to lead the community in making homelessness rare, brief and nonrecurring, with the Flex Fund proven to be an effective, lasting measure to place people in housing, said officials.
More than 1,400 people experience homelessness in Chattanooga.
From 2021 to 2022, there was a 350 percent increase in children under the age of 18 experiencing homelessness in Hamilton County.
The number of people experiencing homelessness on a daily basis in southeast Tennessee has increased over 170 percent in the last year.
The Flex Fund has provided support to 309 people in 2022, including 94 children ages 6-18 and 34 children under the age of 5.
97 percent of the people assisted by the Homeless Coalition stayed out of homelessness 1-2 years after finding housing.
“As part of our mission to serve the community, we see Connect For Good as an opportunity to help the Homeless Coalition get the word out about this important issue,” said EPB President and CEO David Wade.
Gifts to the Flex Fund are managed according to established protocols:
A case manager locates affordable housing for someone in need.
They submit a request to the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition.
The Coalition verifies and processes the request before disbursing funds.
Learn more or donate at epb.com/connect-for-good.