“How come you’re always out of money?”
This is a question we, at Kalamazoo Housing Advocates, hear sometimes from our community partners and even some clients, when they call us, often with an urgent referral for a neighbor or a family needing immediate rental assistance. And too often, they hear the difficult reply: “We are currently at maximum capacity.”
We understand how frustrating this answer is when the need is so immediate and immense. But here is the critical distinction we want our community to understand:
The issue is not that we are always out of money – the issue is that we are always at maximum capacity. The Difference is Deeper Investment.
Our program approach is intentionally different. Our primary focus is not simply getting people housed; it is ensuring they stay housed. Our current housing retention rate is a source of great pride for us: 96% of our clients remain securely in their homes.
How do we achieve this? We don’t just secure housing and then walk away. We commit to a process of deeper, longer-term investment. We stay with our clients all the way, for the long term, empowering them with the resources and life skills necessary for success. We empower them with skills like budget planning to help them master their finances, education on communication skills and conflict management ensuring they build positive relationships with their landlords and community, we build strong partnerships with their housing providers so that we can intervene at the right time to prevent an issue from turning into a crisis.
This holistic, deep-dive strategy means that we often prioritize the needs of our existing clients over taking on new ones. Because we emphasize Success Over Scale.
The need for housing support in Kalamazoo is huge and often feels limitless. We recognize that our capacity limitations make things harder for our partners and for new clients seeking help. However, to maintain our high success rate and truly make a lasting impact, we must consolidate and improve our program’s strength before expanding. Taking on clients we cannot adequately support would defeat the entire purpose of our mission.
Our ultimate goal is to slowly but surely reduce homelessness in Kalamazoo. That requires time, sustained effort, and careful investment in every person we serve, ensuring they are fully set up for success from day one.
So, while it may sometimes look like our financial resources are stretched thin, and sometimes they are – please know this: Our love coffers are always full. Our commitment is that every person who contacts us will be treated with all our love, empathy, and compassion. We strive to make every interaction the best it can be, ensuring that we never turn someone away empty-handed. Instead, we focus on providing them with resources, information, and unwavering support so that they leave feeling heard and respected. We are focused on quality, lasting stability, and building a stronger, more resilient future for every neighbor in our care.
Post by Maliha Raza, Kalamazoo Housing Advocates Director of Development & Operations
