Home built in Alcoa, Tenn; image by Clayton |
MARYVILLE – Clayton and Family Promise impacted a national partnership that aims to prevent families from becoming homeless. In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and an economic crisis, the partnership helped prevent more than 400 families, including 900 children, from becoming homeless. This was accomplished through three core programs: A Future Begins at Home, Partners in Housing and Housing Leadership.
“Clayton’s support of A Future Begins at Home has enabled us to increase the impact of our homelessness prevention and diversion programs and assist many more families facing homelessness,” said Claas Ehlers, CEO of Family Promise. “This has been crucial with so many families facing homelessness due to COVID and the economic crisis.”
Through A Future Begins at Home, Clayton and Family Promise provided education and resource development, comprehensive case management and other support services that enabled families facing homelessness to remain in their homes, including negotiating with landlords, assisting with back rent, and covering unexpected expenses to help families work toward financial stability.
"Our partnership with Clayton is meaningful philanthropy in action," says Cara Bradshaw Chief Impact Officer of Family Promise. "With the affordable housing crisis escalating this year, we have pivoted our services toward prevention and keeping families safe and housed. Clayton's support helps us deliver a sweeping and lasting impact nationally for families at risk of homelessness."
The Partners in Housing program educated and trained approximately 30 Family Promise Affiliates on the benefits of using off-site built housing as an affordable option for stable housing.
Through the Housing Leadership program, Clayton donated five off-site built homes to Family Promise Affiliates that used the homes to provide housing solutions to families in need.
“When I first turned to Family Promise, I had recently lost my home. The transitional housing program gave my family a place to live while I worked on improving my finances,” said Misti Whitehead, Family Promise Program Graduate. “I never dreamed I would be a homeowner again, but with the help of transitional housing I was able to improve my credit score, put money into savings and now I live in my dream home.”
In 2020, the homes donated by Clayton were used for both permanent and transitional housing, serving families for decades to come. Transitional housing offers families who have graduated from Family Promise programs a temporary home solution while they prepare for permanent housing. Three of the five home donations were used as transitional housing in 2020.
“The addition of transitional housing to the home donation program is an exciting and impactful step in our partnership,” said Kevin Clayton, CEO of Clayton. “This will exponentially increase the number of families we are able to support across the country through our partnership with Family Promise.”
The partnership with Family Promise will continue and grow in 2021 for the third year. This year, the partnership aims to prevent more than 700 families with children from becoming homeless through prevention and diversion services.
About Clayton
Founded in 1956, Clayton is committed to opening doors to a better life and building happyness® through homeownership. As a diverse builder committed to quality and durability, Clayton offers traditional site-built homes and off-site built housing – including modular homes, manufactured homes, CrossModTM homes, tiny homes, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments. All Clayton Built® homes are proudly designed, engineered and assembled in America. In 2019, Clayton built 51,964 homes across the country. Clayton is a Berkshire Hathaway company. For more information, visit claytonhomes.com.
*CrossModTM is a trademark of the Manufactured Housing Institute. About Family Promise
Family Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and serves more than 100,000 family members every year. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030. For more information about Family Promise, please visit FamilyPromise.org.
