BOISE, Idaho — A record-breaking year for housing first nonprofit CATCH shows equal parts pros and cons headed into a new calendar year, according to Executive Director Stephanie Day.
CATCH housed 217 families - including 150 children - in 2023, according to Day. It's a clip above the 2022 total of 173 families. CATCH has housed an increasing number of families every year since 2019.
"The need is kind of greater than it's ever been before," Day said. "Right now, there's about 200 families waiting for assistance. We're trying to reduce that so that there's no more than 10 or 20 at any given time looking for housing."
It's an ambitious goal considered CATCH also estimates 1,700 families are living in shelters or places not meant for permanent housing. To house the average family of three to four people currently experiencing homelessness, CATCH earmarks about $12,000 in costs.
That financial assistance covers application fees, deposit, rent, utilities, and ongoing case management for up to two years, according to Day. Ideally, clients are stably housed and independent after one year of assistance. Another year later, 80% remain stably housed, according to CATCH.
"It's quite an investment to end a family's homelessness episode," Day said. "If we can invest in ending homelessness, now we are preventing potential much larger issues from happening in the future."
CATCH is participating in Avenues for Hope, an annual fundraiser focused on Idaho housing nonprofits. The fundraiser ends at the conclusion of the calendar year; CATCH is 56% of the way to their target goal.
The nonprofit hopes to raise enough funds through Avenues for Hope to cover housing costs for 12 Idaho families. Avenues for Hope can be found here.
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