Threshold Program Launches; An entry way to building healthy, strong, and safe communities
An entry way to building healthy, strong, and safe communities
By Peter Madrid
An entry. An origin. A start. A doorway.
All are synonymous with the name given to a centralized network of resources and support for property owners and managers to help them fight homelessness in Maricopa County.
Threshold, launched earlier this month at the Arizona Multihousing Association office in Phoenix, offers financial incentives, a dedicated owner support team, easy to use software that helps facilitate leasing properties, and the financial and technical support to keep property valuable and in good repair – allowing owners and managers to provide safe and stable homes for the community.
Its mission statement says it all:
Threshold believes that individuals, families, and communities are safer, healthier, and stronger when everyone has a home. We support and collaborate with property owners and managers so that you can be active partners in helping make this vision a reality.
Threshold centralizes a full slate of incentives for property owners and managers and provide hands-on support so they can easily implement them. Its services enhance and lie atop existing voucher programs to make them stronger and work better for property owners and managers.
Threshold is a collaborative effort between Maricopa County and housing operator HOM Inc. This public-private partnership is Maricopa County’s first centralized support system for property owners. The program is funded by a $5 million initial investment from federal COVID-19 relief money.
“The number one issue I’m hearing about is homelessness,” Bill Gates, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors chairman, said in an Arizona Republic article on the program. “The challenge has been, of course, ‘How do you get people who are unsheltered into permanent housing?’”
In the same article, AMA CEO Courtney LeVinus highlighted the role that owners play in ending homelessness and urged them to commit at least one unit to Threshold.
“All we ask is you try one unit for each property, everyone take one, share the responsibility and improve our community,” she said in the article.
Other community partners besides AMA and HOM include UMOM, A New Leaf, Chicanos Por La Causa, Phoenix Rescue Mission, AZCEND, one-n-ten, Native American Connections, Mercy House, Save the Family, CBI, CASS, Arizona Behavioral Health Corporation, U.S. Vets Phoenix, and TCAA.
To join Threshold click below: