New Destiny’s innovative rapid rehousing program, HousingLink, has been found by an independent evaluator to be “an innovative, promising practice” which should be sustained and scaled up with increased staffing:

“HousingLink has proven that it could scale up, serve more families and be sustainable. Compared to the costs of housing a family in shelter, HousingLink is a small fraction and so very cost-effective as well as of great help for families to achieve stability. We strongly recommend that HousingLink continue and be funded at an adequate level.”

New Destiny Housing developed HousingLink (originally called Project HOME) in 2014 in partnership with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence to reduce homelessness among domestic violence victims by tailoring HUD’s Rapid Rehousing model to New York City. This three-year pilot was designed to provide information about and linkages to safe permanent housing to survivors of abuse seeking services at New York City’s Family Justice Centers (FJCs). Rapid rehousing has been championed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as the preferred method of addressing family homelessness, including homelessness caused by “escaping domestic violence,” because it reduces the trauma associated with displacement and homelessness for adults and children.

Using core elements of Rapid Rehousing/Housing First models, and tailored to the New York City housing environment, HousingLink works to connect families fleeing domestic violence to safe, affordable apartments, helps them to address barriers to qualifying for housing and provides aftercare that help them to remain stable in their apartments.

Click here to read the full evaluation.