Housing Connector presents eviction-prevention model to Dallas HFC, seeks $250,000 to house 200 people

Housing Connector, a national nonprofit that partners with property owners to expand access to rental housing for people with screening barriers, briefed the Dallas Housing Finance Corporation on Tuesday and proposed a $250,000 grant to support 200 placements and two years of stability services.

At the meeting, Housing Connector’s founder and CEO, Jim Amendi, and the nonprofit’s local managing director (presenter recorded as Van Parker/Managing Director, Housing Connector) described a model that pairs property-level assurances and two years of participant support to reduce evictions. "We've housed over 800 people right here at the Metroplex in that time," the managing director said, describing the nonprofit’s local work. Amendi said the organization’s cost to house and support a person for two years is "about $1,100 all included," and contrasted that with an estimated societal cost of homelessness of roughly $45,000 per person.

Housing Connector explained how its model works: partner properties accept referrals and moderate application criteria (for example, accepting applicants at 2–2.5 times rent rather than a traditional 3x threshold), the nonprofit provides an insurance-like fund to cover unpaid rent or damages for a period, and case-management supports follow residents for up to two years to improve housing stability. The group said it currently partners with national owners and managers and works across markets; it reported serving about 800 people locally and more than 10,000 nationally since founding.

Board members asked how the program interacts with vouchers, scaling, property-management partners and data tracking. In response, Housing Connector said it has seen growing success placing voucher holders since local policy changes, and that roughly 20–25% of placed clients also hold vouchers. The presenter said the group raises a mix of public and private funds (the organization reported about 67% of funding is government sources) and that it brings seed funding to new markets, describing a national practice of bringing roughly $500,000 to each new market. The group also said it had secured more than $600,000 in fundraising in North Texas this year and earlier received a $100,000 award from United Way Dallas and a separate $250,000 city grant for related programming.

Several board members signaled support and asked staff to work with Housing Connector on a proposal. One board member recommended advancing a $250,000 award for consideration at a future meeting; staff said Housing Connector would prepare a formal proposal and budget for board review.

Housing Connector asked for data access and committed to better measurement; the presentation said the organization is working with researchers to evaluate long-term outcomes and track life-cycle data for residents. The nonprofit described a two-year active support window as the period after which the organization’s internal data show a materially lower risk that a household will cycle back into homelessness, and said it will return with proposed metrics and reporting to inform future investments.