Recently, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies and NeighborWorks America published a joint report to evaluate resident services at 70 NeighborWorks organizations. While resident services – which range from education, healthcare, eviction prevention, long-term supportive housing, and workforce development – have demonstrated positive efficacy for residents, the type, availability, and consistency of funding varies greatly. Researchers found that:
- Organization-Wide Offerings: Most organizations offer resident services at all or nearly all their properties, with 55 percent offering resident services to their entire portfolio and less than 15 percent of organizations offering resident services to less than half of their properties.
- Relatively Modest Funding: While budgets for resident services ranged anywhere from $2,500 to $17,200,000, over half (53 percent) of organizations had a budget under $300,000.
The report also highlights that government funding for these programs increased during the pandemic, underscoring their importance to resident stability and well-being; however, maintaining higher levels of funding remains a challenge. While diverse funding models enable growth and innovation, the need to patch together resources from government, foundations, private donors, and other sources challenges the stability of these vital services.