The Citi Foundation today announced that HELP USA is one of nine community organizations working across the U.S. chosen for the 2024 Global Innovation Challenge and will receive a $500,000 grant. HELP join’s a new cohort of 50 community organizations around the world set to receive a collective $25 million in catalytic funding from Citi to address homelessness.
The new funding will allow HELP to pilot a web-based data management platform to increase the capacity, efficiency and accessibility of homelessness prevention programs in the Bronx, New York. HELP currently operates three Homebase programs for the City of New York, providing wrap-around services to prevent homelessness and increase housing stability for over 6,500 households annually. The program has an astounding success rate of 95% keeping people housed and out of shelters. With this influx of critical capital, HELP will seek to amplify these results and deliver long-term improvements that can be replicated city-wide.
“HELP USA has been a leader in homelessness prevention for decades, but affordable housing is harder to come by every year,” said Dan Lehman, President and CEO of HELP USA. “Through the commitment of visionary organizations like Citi which recognize the importance of PREVENTING homelessness, we can expand the scale and scope of what we do – making sure people remain stably housed and keeping them out of the shelter system.”
“Since launching the inaugural Global Innovation Challenge in early 2023, we’ve continued to see how community-based solutions are poised to accelerate impact on the ground,” said Brandee McHale, President of the Citi Foundation and Head of Citi Community Investing & Development. “We call this grant support ‘catalytic’ given the multiplier effect it can have on low-income communities. Each organization will not only directly impact the lives of people in crisis today, but also create models that can be replicated in other communities around the world tomorrow.”
“We are providing assistance as quickly as we can to keep people safely housed or rapidly rehouse them, and our efforts are slowed by systems that weren’t designed to handle this volume,” said Syrena Huggins, AVP Prevention and Rapid Rehousing, HELP USA. “With this generous support from Citi, we expect to see an immediate increase in the number of people served, but more importantly, an increase in the speed with which we can identify their needs, and provide them with long-term remedies that will result in stability and savings for tenants, landlords, and the City of New York
As a grantee, HELP USA will also have access to a learning community and global network of community organizations working to address this pressing issue. For more information on the Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge, please visit citifoundation.com/challenge
HELP USA’s selection for the Citi Foundation’s Global Innovation Challenge is a major step forward in expanding our reach and enhancing our impact. Find out more about HELP USA’s prevention programs and how we are fighting back against homelessness.
read Citi’s press release here.
