HomeScreen joins Built for Zero initiative to end homelessness

In July 2022, Tower Grove CDC was invited to join an initiative called Built for Zero (BfZ), part of the nonprofit Community Solutions focused on solving homelessness. Saint Louis City is one of 105 communities across the country that participate in Built for Zero with the goal of trying to get to what they call “functional zero.” Functional zero is a layered concept that starts with ending homelessness for one population, like veterans, by making sure it is rare and brief. There are several key steps to be taken to achieve functional zero, starting with having real-time data shared across the Continuum of Care for each person experiencing homelessness. 

Tower Grove CDC was tapped to join the BfZ team as the Property Engagement Lead because of our ARCH by HomeScreen program. ARCH: At-risk Renters’ Connection to Housing is a web-based software that launched in 2021 that allows landlords to share their available rental units with housing liaisons from nonprofit organizations in the community. ARCH is an opt-in service for landlords using HomeScreen tenant screening wanting to connect with those most in need of housing. Landlords on ARCH know the applicants on the platform may have traditional barriers to housing, like credit issues, poor rental history, and/or low income. However, these landlords understand that, as stated on the Community Solutions website, “the access to rental apartments is the major barrier” to ending homelessness. 

Of course, building more affordable housing units is important to ending homelessness, but these developments take time and a lot of money to complete before they make any significant difference in the affordable housing gap. According to the BfZ Property Engagement Cohort, creating a system that centralizes the currently existing housing is key to reaching functional zero homelessness. During the cohort meetings ARCH by HomeScreen was often used as an example of how to centralize the housing stock in a community, as well as the challenges we have faced in creating and implementing the ARCH system. 

Community Solutions is focused on implementing data-driven solutions in communities across their network. In April 2022, Tower Grove CDC was awarded a $50,000 grant in order to implement some of the best practices taught in the Property Engagement Cohort and feedback from our current ARCH users to make the system better. Some of the improvements will include a searchable map, improved reporting, adding support letters from our nonprofit users, and email notifications for new listings that match pre-determined criteria. We are currently working on final touches for the design and plan to launch the new features later this year. Tower Grove CDC will work with the rest of the St. Louis BfZ team to track and report on our goals to use these grant-funded improvements to reduce homelessness and the time spent homeless in our City.