River of Refuge

River of Refuge provides temporary housing to working homeless families. Families live in a fully furnished apartment on site at River of Refuge on average 4-6 months while working a customized program. The program is focused on paying off debt which is prohibiting the family from securing stable housing, which is typically due to evictions and past due rent and utilities. Each program is tailored to the situation of the individual family. Families are placed on a strict, "all needs, no wants" budget and meet weekly with their assigned case manager. In addition to case management, families must attend weekly parenting and life skills classes on site at River of Refuge. The River of Refuge approach seeks to change the behavior of homeless families so that they can better achieve sustained housing moving forward. In 2023, River of Refuge served 29 families made up of 115 people: 103 were from jackson county with 12 coming from other counties. We provided a total of 8,500 bed nights and 19,428 meal equivalents. Our families paid off debt totaling 61,964 and saved 80,836. Over 700 pounds of vegetables were provided to the resident families from our 16 raised vegetable garden beds. All the families (100%) who graduated the program were successfully housed upon completion of the program. By utilizing Missouri ahap production tax credits, the organization was able to make much needed repairs to its' parking deck, sidewalks, and curbs allowing for easier and safer access to the building. We were also able to upgrade security cameras to ensure that all families and staff are safe while on the premises.