Archive for category: FSS

On September 11, 2021, HRHA hosted the first annual Back to School Bash for Franklin Heights Families. HRHA worked with 10 community partners to create an event that was fun, safe, and helpful for families. We had a wonderful turnout and the weather as near perfect. Neighborhood children helped clean up the area for the event and community partners started arriving around 4:00pm to set up their stations. The event was held in the grassy area behind the Reservoir Street apartments near Kiwanis Park.

Children were invited to take a ‘passport’ that include the names of each partner at the event. Children then went table to table or activity to activity to get a stamp from each partner. Competed passports earned them a goodie bag from HRHA that included pencils, snacks, and coupons.

We are incredibly grateful to the following agencies and community groups who partnered with us this year. They include:

• The Ice Cream Pedaler who provided home made ice cream made by bicycle!
• Harrisonburg Baptist Church who brought a popcorn machine and all sorts of yard games. The big beach ball was a huge hit.
• Massanutten Regional Library who brought books and signs ups for library cards.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters who spoke with families about their programs, including the new Sports Buddies Program. The even brought donuts and inflatable bowling.
• Jones Garden who had children and families brush up on their herb identification with a matching game.
• The Gus Bus, a regular in our neighborhoods, who had all sorts of goodies and learning materials.
• Students in the Harrisonburg High School Governor’s STEM Academy who held paper airplane making and launching tutorials.
• Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation who held DIY lava lamp making demos.
• Boys and Girls Club who shared about scholarship opportunities for our families.
• Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) who shared vaccine information with residents while having face to face conversations on vaccine hesitancy and safety.

HRHA also gave out school kits and supplies thanks to the support of United Way.

Hope to see you next year!

The Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program is a 5-year program funded by HUD and coordinated by HRHA staff. Program participants work with one of our coordinators to establish goals around finance, education, work, and family at the start of the program. Participants sign a 5-year contract committing to work with us to reach their goals, increase their income, and become more self-sufficient.

The FSS program is one of our most successful programs. With their housing costs subsidized, individuals and families are better able to focus on other critical pieces of self-sufficiency like reliable transportation, higher education or training, financial literacy, and more. As participants increase their income in the program, a portion of their increased rent payment is put in a savings (escrow) account. This money becomes available to them upon program graduation. Every year graduates leave our program better equipped to support themselves and their families.

This August, Alina Santos graduated from FSS. Alina started the program in 2015 without a job and with a substantial amount of debt. Through the five years, Alina worked with her FSS Coordinator to secure a job at Purdue and eventually Aarons, where she sees job growth opportunity. She worked on her financial literacy and management, paying of debts and raising her credit score from 400 to over 650. She began building an escrow (savings) as her income increased. She used some of her savings to buy a reliable car, saving the rest to have options for a down payment on a house down the road. She is currently working with our Homebuyer Assistance program and has completed the online homebuyer preparation course.