Grantee Profile: Housing Hope

"The thing that really opened my heart and filled my heart with love was when my 18-year-old daughter said to me, 'Mom, I’m proud of you.' She has never said that to me before." That’s how LaTressa Atteberry, a single mother of three, thinks about her journey out of homelessness.

It all began at a place called Housing Hope. The foundation grantee gives homeless families in Snohomish County, Wash., everything they need to get themselves back on their feet—a home to live in, a supportive community that knows what they’re going through, and individual case managers who help the families address specific problems. For example, if a parent is addicted to drugs, the case manager can help by finding an appropriate substance abuse treatment program. If a child is struggling emotionally, the case manager can recommend an effective counselor. Maybe a parent needs a GED certificate or job training—Housing Hope is there to help make that happen.

How it Began
Housing Hope started in 1987. Back then, local church leaders started noticing that more and more families with children were showing up at their shelters. They’d put them up in hotels for a few days but knew they needed to do a lot more. Ultimately, helping families in crisis would mean getting at the root causes.

The church leaders started thinking about what it would take to really turn around the lives of the families. Over the years, Housing Hope has honed its comprehensive approach, and now it's a one-stop shop that gives families everything they need if they're committed to succeeding in the program. Today, Housing Hope has 16 locations throughout Snohomish County.

Some of Housing Hope's work was funded by Sound Families, a $40 million initiative we launched in 2000 to support exactly this kind of creative approach to fighting homelessness throughout the Puget Sound region. In seven years, Sound Families helped create nearly 1,500 new homes with services for families that are making the transition from homelessness to stability. Though Sound Families has completed its grantmaking, families and children will continue to be served by the initiative well into the next decade.

Making the Most of the Program
Atteberry, who grew up mostly in foster care, came to Housing Hope in 2004, when, she said, she "hit rock bottom." She enrolled her young daughter in the child care facility located next door to the apartment where they lived.

Then she started taking life-skills classes on subjects ranging from budgeting to anger management at Housing Hope's nearby adult education facility, appropriately called the College of Hope. Atteberry attended every single class available and never missed a session.
"Anything," she said, "to prove to my girls and prove to myself that I could change my whole life."

A Fresh Start
The program aims to take families all the way from homelessness to self-sufficiency. It operates an emergency shelter. From there, it places families in transitional housing, where they can remain for up to two years while they work toward stability and a permanent rental home. The ultimate goal is homeownership. Housing Hope helps families every step of the way; it even runs a program that helps families group together to build their own houses—literally, with their hands.

Atteberry and her children have now moved out of transitional housing and live in their own apartment. Atteberry works in Housing Hope's child-care center, and she hopes to own her own child-care business one day. Her oldest daughter is heading to college.

"I'm full of life now," she said. "I love it. I want to live each day happy."