04 Jun reStart Receives $125,876 Grant from the Kansas City Emergency Solutions Grant Rapid Rehousing Fund
reStart, Inc. recently received a grant for $125,876 from the Kansas City Emergency Solutions Grant to provide ESGP funded Rapid Rehousing assistance and financial aid to a minimum of 14 families coming from the Family Emergency Shelter and the streets. reStart will also serve six youth coming from the Youth Emergency Shelter and the streets.
ESGP money will provide $60,200 in direct client assistance for our Family Shelter in the form of rent payments, application fees, moving costs, and security and utility deposits. ESGP money will also support 50% of salary costs for reStart’s Rapid Rehousing Coordinator. Funds will allow these vulnerable families to exit the program or get off the streets into permanent housing within 30 days or less.
The goal of reStart’s Family Shelter is to move homeless and chronically homeless families off the streets and into emergency shelter or permanent housing. reStart provides ongoing opportunities, support, and assistance to help them transition from homelessness to permanent housing and to prevent them from becoming homeless again. This program prioritizes families with children. For newly homeless families, direct assistance (rent, utilities, medical/legal expenses, transportation and ID documents) coupled with intensive employment and housing assistance is often enough to enable them to resolve crises and regain stable housing. Families in the program receive individualized case management to help each family develop specific, personalized goals and action steps that will lead them to self-sufficiency. Youth are referred by reStart’s Street Outreach team, other Youth programs, and from community providers. Youth receive a housing plan tailored to their specific needs. Rental assistance is available for an average of six months (up to 12 months). Based on individual needs, youth receive assistance and referrals for obtaining benefits, financial management classes, employment classes, and mental health services.
reStart is one of Kansas City’s largest community-based providers serving the homeless, offering food, clothing, housing, and comprehensive supportive services to homeless men, women, families with children, and unaccompanied youth. reStart’s staff works closely with local government agencies, congregations, and other service providers to offer quality programs to the people they shelter. In 2016, reStart provided over 24,000 services to homeless individuals. reStart has 36 years of experience serving the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri. What began as crisis center providing emergency food and shelter for the homeless has developed into a full-service community advocate offering a full continuum of care – street outreach services, rapid re-housing, emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent housing) for all populations.