Fiscal Year 2018 Operation Pathways Annual Report: How You Live Matters
Operation Pathways Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Report
How You Live Matters
Building on the Strengths of Residents
2018 was a year of remarkable recognition and transformation for Operation Pathways.
Early in the year, our organization was designated as the first CORES certified resident services provider in the country. CORES Certification recognizes organizations that have developed a robust commitment, capacity, and competency in providing resident services coordination in affordable rental housing. This recognition inspired the Operation Pathways team to create more productive and meaningful relationships with our residents; leveraging our mutual strengths as creative, capable and resourceful partners to problem-solve together. We believe that the traditional, transactional relationship of helping a resident fix a problem, while well-intended, falls short in bringing about long-term positive lifestyle changes. Residents achieve more for themselves and their families via “family- centered coaching” which focuses on their strengths and the value that they bring to the table. The results of this approach have included important breakthroughs in the daily lives of the people who live in our properties. For example, Ms. Williams had a family emergency and needed to travel out of state. She spent her rent money on her travel and found herself and her 3-year old son in danger of eviction. Our resident services coordinator (RSC) immediately helped Ms. Williams find an agency to pay the rent and late fee. The focus had been: find a solution to the problem, “check the box” for eviction prevention, case closed. But through our own investment in training, we decided to adopt a more holistic approach. Ms. Williams recognized her need for a financial safety net for situations like these so that she wouldn’t spend her rent money on emergencies. The RSC offered her financial coaching and Ms. Williams started working towards that goal. The RSC recognized her strengths (steady work, childcare, a network of friends and family) and Ms. Williams did the rest. This is just one of the transformative stories our residents have to tell. Through this process, Operation Pathways has come to realize that recognizing our residents’ strengths makes us all stronger.
Richard F. Burns
Kenneth D. White
Richard F. Burns
Kenneth D. White
President & Chief Executive, NHPF
Executive Director, Operation Pathways
Bettering the Bottom Line
Resourceful Resident Services Programs Provide Cost Savings
Economically challenged families residing in affordable housing often rely on social services to achieve stable housing and increase their financial standing. These services vary from adult education and employment assistance programs intended to locate a job or advance in a career, to supplementary after-school programs designed to provide wraparound academic guidance to ensure scholastic success. However, research also illustrates that resident services in affordable family properties, working in combination with local social services, can reduce rental property management costs. Reductions in turnover and nonpayment of rent have been observed, likely as a result of families becoming more financially stable. This is often the result of forming relationships with a network of reliability beginning with resident services coordinators, and an overall stronger sense of community. This data demonstrates how properties and owners can better their bottom lines, by implementing resident services programs. By comparing family properties with resident services to family properties without resident services, Operation Pathways was able to determine that resident services programs reduced property vacancy losses, legal fees, and bad debts. Our organization’s analysis also shows that Operation Pathways’ residents services programs decrease the number of skips and evictions. These results indicate that 83% of evictions and skips were from households that were not enrolled in resident services programs. This information underscores the importance of resident services programs and their often overlooked and underappreciated value. Resident services programs, like those provided by Operation Pathways, expand opportunities to residents, improve life outcomes for adults and children, allow seniors to age in place, and provide a financial benefit for property owners and management. Resident services decrease the chances of skips and evictions, lower the costs of vacancy losses, legal fees, and bad debts. The evidence is clear, properties where Operation Pathways is present, realize substantial cost-savings per unit, in comparison to those properties that do not provide resident services programs.
Pathway to Financial Stability
The Heart of Resident-Centered Coaching
Operation Pathways has embraced family-centered coaching as an effective means for creating meaningful and productive partnerships between our resident services coordinators and residents. Charles and Gennifer Ratliff of Forest Park Apartments in New Orleans represent another shining example of the coaching at its best. Over five years the couple has built a strong and trusting relationship with their resident services coordinator, Tiffany Martinez. Using techniques she learned in Family-Centered Coaching, Tiffany assessed the Ratliffs’ readiness to partner with her to help achieve their goals. The Ratliffs began by partnering with Tiffany to uncover short-term objectives that would help them eventually achieve their larger goals of maintaining financial security throughout retirement. Of utmost importance to the Ratliffs was identifying a new, affordable prescription plan that would cover Gennifer’s medication costs to treat the chronic diabetes that has confined her to a wheelchair. The Ratliffs worked with Tiffany to find ways to keep medication costs and copays at a manageable rate given their fixed income. Through active listening and asking powerful questions, Tiffany and the Ratliffs made a plan, researched prescription programs and reached out to vendors. Within a few weeks, they had signed up for a new prescription plan that they could afford. During this time, Tiffany was conducting weekly check-ins with them and began to connect them to other residents in the community. These experiences led the couple to seek guidance in designing a monthly budget for their finances, so that they could be ready for future unexpected expenses. Together, the Ratliffs and Tiffany created a workable household budget. Both Charles and Gennifer began to participate in community events and meet their neighbors. Previously, they would keep to themselves and were socially isolated from other residents. Mr. Ratliff started attending weekly fitness classes, and his doctor noted his decreased blood pressure levels. Charles and Gennifer are perfect examples of the capable, creative, and resourceful individuals who live in affordable housing communities. Family-centered coaching reminds us that it is not our job to empower our residents. In fact, the power already resides in them. It is our duty to walk alongside them as they work towards their own goals, and coach them along the way.
Charles and Gennifer Ratliff
Financial Partners
AARP Mansur Abdul-Malik Robert Abrams Mecky Adnani Ramon Aggabao AGM Financial Services AHC Inc. Amazon Foundation Amazon Smile
Department of Housing & Urban Development Deutsch-Khanna Family Fund Patricia Diaz Dennis Dollar General Literacy Foundation Neal Drobenare Shay Dugan Edgewood Management Company Emergency Food & Shelter Program, CT Essex County, NJ Every Kid a King Foundation Exxon Mobil John Michael Feehan Tanner Finnan First Book Philadelphia Eileen Fisher Food Bank of South East Jersey Foundation Community Partnership Fox Pool Management Michael Franklin
Jennifer Ju Junior League of Baton Rouge Kelliher Salzer
Senator Tom Tomlinson Share Our Strength
Sharps Landscaping, Inc. Shehz Ent. Inc. (Subway) Sirus Fund Jamie Smarr Ian Sobel Sodexo Remote Sites Southern University Southern University Sub Contract CDBG Joseph Sperlazzo St. John’s Community Foundation, Inc. State Farm Kendra Stensven Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) Frank L. Sullivan, Jr. Suntrust United Way campaign The David and Minnie Berk Foundation The Frost Foundation
Kiss Electric, LLC Klein Hornig LLP Philip Landicho Latter & Blum
Jay Legaspi Kevin Lewis Eryka Lindsey Louisiana Pizza Kitchen
Amerigroup Corporation Amerigroup Foundation Pamela Anderson-Livingston Anonymous Archdiocese of Philadelphia Assets for Independence IDA (HHS)
Jeff MacDonagh Tiffany Martinez Carol-Ann Mason Mass Mutual MetLife Foundation Fred Mitchell Joyce Moskovitz NAHMA Educational Foundation New Jersey SHARES Niagara Cares/Niagara Bottling No Child Hungry Adegoke Odina Oldways Taste of African Heritage Keith & Susan Orgeron Elizabeth Ortmann John Ortmann
AT&T Foundation AZAR Foundation
Pauline Baculi BancorpSouth Scott Barkan Josefina Barredo BBV Compass Foundation Bellwether Enterprise Berk Foundation Best Buy Children’s Foundation Lyle Blanchard BoCarsly Emden Cowan Esmall & Arndt LLP Bottom Dollar Food Store Ralph Boyd Charlene Brisco Al Browne Bucks County Community Foundation Bucks County Food Bank Bucks County Opportunity Council Richard Burns Caleco Capital One Leslie & Tom Carr Livi Centeno-McNulla Center for Health Frank Cerbini Children and Family Legacy Fund Claude Chow Citigroup Foundation City of Falls Church Community Service Fund City of Orange, NJ CMQ Flooring
Freddie Mac Corporation Freddie Mac Foundation Friends of Tina Davis Patrick Fry
The Little Fund That Could The Meadows Foundation The Sirus Fund The Wachovia Foundation Ron Tienzo Tomlinson for Senate Tulane University United Way United Way of Houston United Way of Metro Dallas United Way of Western CT US Bank Thomas Vaccaro Mary Vincent Wal-Mart Amanda Walz Joyce Walz Washington Gas and Light
Mary Gochuico Carlos Gonzales GPOA Foundation Greater New Orleans Foundation Stephen Green Gulf Youth Action Corps/Americorps Dawn Gutierrez HallKeen Hamel Builders, Inc. Carolyn Hardaway Healthy City Fall River Heron Foundation Donald & Nancy Hess Hewlett Packard Hillcrest Foundation John Hoffer Home Depot Foundation HomeFree-USA Evelynn Howell Huey and Angelina Wilson Foundation Inspire Credit Union Jackson Hands of Change Corey John
Andrew Pagtakhan Jessie Pagtakhan Gary Parkinson Avani Patel
Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency People’s United Community Foundation Philabundance PNC Foundation Preserving Louisiana’s Affordable Housing Prince George’s County Tim Pryor Andrea Quimoyog Clarita Ramos Reginellis Pizzeria Renew Our Music Fund, Inc. Meade Rhodes Pamela Robinson Ethel & T. Peyton Robinson Colleen Russell Sam’s Club Cherie Santos-Wuest SBC Anne Schrantz
Wegmans Ken White
Whole Kids Foundation Mary & Joe Wiedorfer Sam Wildhalm William Penn Bank Foundation Wilson Foundation WinnResidential Breon Wise
Columbia Baptist Church Darien Community Fund Del Valley Mental Health
Beverly Johnson Jordan Johnson James A. Joseph
Barbara Wolf Carrie Yeager Amanda Yu
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www.operationpathways.org
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