Family-school ties at center of Tacoma homelessness prevention program

ESHAP, which has served at least 150 students in roughly 110 families since it began, also demonstrates the challenges low-income families face in finding affordable housing near their children’s schools in transitional neighborhoods — a shift that has been taking place for years in the Pacific Northwest and across the country. 

‘So many of the families were having a hard time finding housing,’ explained Amy Van, a project manager for policy, innovation and evaluation with THA. ‘A voucher can mean nothing if there’s no housing for them to even access.’

That’s what was taking place in the neighborhood surrounding McCarver. Once known for gang violence, Hilltop is now the site of new condo construction, a light rail project and other developments that have increasingly priced longtime residents out of the community. ‘They are trying to clean up the area,’ Millspaugh said.

Read the full story at Education Dive.