Last month, the Maine-based Quality Housing Coalition (QHC) launched Project HOME Trust, the first direct cash assistance program of its kind in the state of Maine. Project HOME Trust was developed in partnership with people with lived experience of housing insecurity and seeks to support the long-term housing stability of participants, all of whom are single mothers who have experienced homelessness. Participants receive an unrestricted $1,000 monthly cash assistance payment for one year along with an array of supportive housing services. Community connection and resilience are further strengthened through the use of a cohort model. QFC is working with partners to evaluate the pilot program this year and hopes to use the lessons learned to influence policy change at the state level.
The Quality Housing Coalition was created to fill gaps in the housing sector. After several years of managing Project HOME, a scattered-site supportive housing program, staff identified common barriers for their clients – 70% of whom were asylum seekers and a majority of whom were single mothers – to achieving long-term housing stability and independence. While stable and affordable housing was critical for every household, it was not enough to sustain their stability as they entered the workforce and subsequently lost access to public assistance benefits, a phenomenon known as the “benefits cliff.” Additionally, childcare costs were out of reach and seldom covered by other benefits programs. When Quality Housing Coalition’s clients were asked what would help them most to sustain their housing, the consistent answer was unrestricted cash assistance.
Meanwhile, advocates were mobilizing around policy solutions to support housing stability, particularly through the pandemic. The Corporation for Supportive Housing led QHC and other advocates to push the Maine State Legislature to establish the Frequent Users Systems Engagement (FUSE) Collaborative in 2021 to better understand the total costs of Maine’s current homeless response system. A FUSE Collaborative report was released in 2022 detailing challenges and opportunities for reducing this cost in Maine, which advocates say helped open the door to new and innovative strategies such as direct cash assistance. In 2020, the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition (MAHC), an NLIHC state partner, produced a report on evictions, which found that most non-payment evictions in Maine were filed for arrearages of less than $1,500, similarly demonstrating the high costs to families and communities that could be avoided through short-term cash assistance programs.
In addition to incorporating client feedback, Project HOME Trust was inspired by Magnolia Mother’s Trust, a direct cash assistance program created in Jackson, Mississippi. QHC received funding for staffing the project through the City of Portland’s Community Development Block Grant program, and the cash assistance is privately funded.
The first cohort comprises 20 households headed by single mothers who have experienced homelessness, a population QHC identified as having additional barriers to housing stability, such as childcare costs, that could be alleviated through the cash assistance payments. In addition to stable, affordable housing and ongoing supportive services, each participant receives a monthly cash payment of $1,000 with no restrictions and no reporting requirements. Trust is a core value of the program, which is inspired in part by studies that show investments with no strings attached create the most meaningful outcomes for families. Participant-led monthly meetings help create an additional support network and further participants’ resilience and independence.
Quarterly evaluations of the Project HOME Trust pilot program will help QHC ascertain the impact of the program on participants and their families. QHC hopes to use data gathered about the program to educate state lawmakers about the benefits and efficiency of direct cash assistance programs and hopes to see models like it expanded across the state.
“We developed [Project HOME] Trust after years of identifying systemic barriers that prevent people from accessing the resources they need to exit poverty,” said Victoria Morales, executive director for the Quality Housing Coalition. “And we believe that direct cash assistance will change the way benefit programs are designed from here on out.”
“MAHC is so pleased to see this innovative approach to keep people in their homes launch in Maine,” said Laura Mitchell, executive director for the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition. “We know people need to work 50 to 60 hours a week at a minimum wage job just to afford a one-bedroom apartment here. This program allows hard working Maine people to afford necessities like childcare, medicine, and food while staying housed."
Peace Mutesi, Project HOME Trust’s coordinator, is a former QHC client and has been involved in the development of Project HOME Trust since its inception several years ago. She notes that “when approached with an opportunity to give back to mothers who face many of the same barriers I faced with the strategy I had hoped for, I just couldn’t say no.”
More information about Project HOME Trust is available on the QHC website.