Inside Our Program

Designed to Empower

At Charlotte Family Housing, our mission is to transform our community by empowering families experiencing homelessness to get back on their feet and stay there, to find a roof and make it a home, to achieve financial literacy and self-sufficiency – for now, and for the future.

To do that, we created an impact-driven, family-focused program defined by several core factors:

Who We Serve

The families we serve are diverse, driven, and determined. They are single-parent families, two-parent families, and multigenerational families of up to 9 people. The women and men who lead these families are hardworking and fill critical roles in our community.

They are teachers, daycare attendants, food service workers, bus drivers, and home healthcare providers, and like a growing number of individuals across our community, they are experiencing homelessness.

This is where our work begins.

These families come to us in need of shelter, and discover that what they’ve found at Charlotte Family Housing is so much more. Our program equips families with the skills, resources, and support they need to build a stronger future, for themselves and for generations to come.

Angela Witt, Board Member

Housing sustainability is critical for our community’s wellbeing. CFH directly addresses this need, creative positive change for families. I’ve witnessed their transformative impact firsthand and am proud to support their mission.

How Our Program Works

House

Empower

Equip

SHELTER PHASE:

Working families experiencing homelessness begin their journey at family-based transitional shelters at Plaza Place or Hawthorne Place. During this phase, families:

Experience the safety and stability of having a place to call home
Learn to manage a household budget and begin saving
Build healthy routines

Within 30 days, families work alongside their Housing Resource Coordinator to find a new place to call home. Through this process, they have the opportunity to:

Connect to safe, affordable housing through 70+ partners across 21 zip codes
Obtain rental subsidies to bridge the gap between income and market rent

HOUSING PHASE:

Once families have signed a lease for their new home or apartment, this support continues: Charlotte Family Housing provides a full year of social work services during the Housing Phase, with the potential for renewal if the family continues to meet certain eligibility requirements.

Empowerment is woven throughout every element of our program. We believe in the strength of every family.

We also believe that homelessness and housing instability are traumatizing experiences.

As a trauma-informed agency, we acknowledge the impact of trauma on an individual’s well-being and aim to prevent re-traumatization by restoring a sense of safety, power, and self-worth. CFH implements trauma-informed practices in all aspects of our work, from the color of the walls to how we prioritize trust and transparency.

Adults are not the only family members who experience trauma in these situations. That’s why we work across entire families, taking a two-generation approach and empowering both parents and children to build lasting self-sufficiency. This is done through youth enrichment programs, including camps, workshops, and life skills programs that strengthen academic success and self-worth and promote resilience.

Community organizations are a vital part of this work, and we have built collaborative partnerships with organizations across Charlotte, including:

- Child Care Resources, Inc.: This partnership allows us to provide access to safe, affordable childcare through subsidized vouchers.
- Head Start & MECK Pre-K: Our support team ensures families know about early education programs for children ages 4 and 5.
- The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act: This federal law ensures students experiencing homelessness can remain enrolled in their home school thus ensuring educational stability, and also provides transportation.

Throughout the program, families also work with clinical social workers who provide wraparound support services to:

Address barriers to family stability
Facilitate pathways to financial literacy, education, and job readiness
Increase access to therapy and mental health support
Connect families to community resources
Provide workshops focused on budgeting and goal planning

Need support?

If you and your family are in need of housing, please fill out our brief online application to see if our program is right for you.