Charlotte Family Housing

In our two-phase continuum of care model, CFH provides supportive transitional shelter and affordable housing for the families we serve. During both phases, the families work closely with social workers to receive intensive family-focused care and support such as vocational counseling, parenting skills and financial literacy. CFH empowers families to take positive steps in both phases to achieve financial independence and self-reliance.

CFH works through six program areas to serve our homeless families:
1. Transitional Shelter: To stabilize homeless employable and employed families in a smaller shelter setting to address their immediate needs and help move them into permanent, quality, affordable housing.
2. Housing Placement: Through aggressive advocacy with our Housing Resource Coordinator, we rapidly re-house homeless employed families in vacant, quality, affordable rental units with a rental subsidy so families can step back from trauma to focus on longer-term goals.
3. Clinical Family Social Work: Clinically-trained workers are trained to intervene in all aspects of a family’s life to help them reach their goals including areas of addiction, mental health, financial literacy, children’s education and health and wellness.
4. Vocational Counseling: In partnership with Goodwill Industries, a dedicated Career Development Specialist works with families on job retention and career advancement through vocational assessment, skills training and supportive counseling to empower advancement in employment and wage levels.
5. Personal Accountability and Empowerment: As families meet goals, the program responds proportionately by offering critical items such as matched saving accounts, microloans, and transportation funds to help families build assets and achieve self-sufficiency. In addition, families participate in intensive workshops called “Getting Ahead In a Just Gettin’ By World.” This nationally acclaimed workshop reframes how families see the world by examining the hidden rules of middle class values and evaluating their current resources.
6. Volunteer Engagement: Volunteers engage with families through short-term and long-term relationships to develop relationships of support and encouragement. As families complete “Getting Ahead,” volunteers participate in a complementary program called “Bridges Out of Poverty.” CFH is distinguished from other programs in that it creates a space for middle class volunteers to build relationships with homeless families under the supervision of trained staff in order to provide hospitality, compassion and advocacy across boundaries that often divide us.