In This Article
Programming Focus Shifts Due to Housing Landscape and Dependence on Living-Wage Employment
When federal funding cuts paused and eliminated housing vouchers in 2025, Freedom House Ministries faced a critical question: How could we help families achieve permanent housing without
the subsidies previously relied upon by low income families?
The answer reshaped our approach entirely.
“We realized we needed to shift our focus from simply finding housing to ensuring families had
the economic foundation to sustain it,” says Elisa Mandarim, Director of Success. “It wasn’t enough
anymore to help someone secure a housing a voucher and move into an apartment. They needed more income, skills, and confidence to keep that apartment long-term.”
This understanding transformed our Housing Navigation and Economic Mobility pillars from supplementary services into the cornerstone of our programming. Success Coaches began working intensively with each family to develop comprehensive plans addressing both immediate housing needs and long-term economic sustainability.
The work is deeply relational. Coaches assessed skills, identified career interests, and removed barriers preventing families from securing living-wage employment, whether it was childcare logistics, resume building, interview preparation, or connections to job training programs.
“Families often felt like they can’t do it. They can’t find a beautiful home or secure a career with real advancement opportunities,” Elisa explained. “Our role was to educate and guide them to believe they could achieve greatness through their own efforts. Because they absolutely can.”
The results speak to this shifted approach. Families built sustainable futures on their own terms, accepted positions with benefits, negotiated better wages, and planned career trajectories rather than just taking any available job.
This wasn’t about making families fit into available subsidies. It was about equipping them with tools to create their own stability.
When a family leaves Freedom House with both a signed lease and a paycheck that covers their rent, utilities, and groceries with dignity intact, that’s permanent change.
That’s true freedom.
