Housing Connector

Housing Connector is a tech-powered nonprofit that increases access to housing for individuals most in need. We do this by solving financial and resident challenges for property owners so they can open doors to more people in the community. Simultaneously, we streamline the housing search experience for non-profit case managers and their clients with a unique Zillow powered marketplace. These homes match client’s housing search preferences while also agreeing to reduce screening criteria to eliminate barriers – ensuring both properties and residents have successful outcomes.

Since launching in Seattle in Q4 2019, our model has been expanded to Tacoma, Denver, Dallas, and Portland over the past 2 years and has seen 6,200+ people housed, 1,900+ properties, and 220+ nonprofits joining the partnership.

Housing Connector was recognized as a Puget Sound Innovator of the Year, a World Changing Idea by FastCompany, and as one of the Best Places to Work for in the State of WA.

What if we could solve homelessness in the next 5 years without having to build our way out of this crisis? While over 640k people experience homelessness in the U.S., there are 3.2M units that sit vacant each day. We at Housing Connector believe this is unacceptable, but more importantly, we know this problem can be solved, and we are on a mission to ensure that no unit sits vacant while people need a home. Our technology enables us to do this orders of magnitude more efficiently than traditional approaches: 85% find and maintain housing for less than $500/person. While this is a national problem, this is also a personal problem for our Founder and CEO, who immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee from Kosovo and faced firsthand the reality of accessing housing in a system riddled with bias and discrimination. He has built a leadership team that share similar lived expertise and guide Housing Connector’s trajectory with deep empathy for those served.

Housing Connector’s model is designed to counteract oppressive practices in the housing industry that perpetuate racism and discrimination. Strict screening criteria in housing is particularly oppressive to homeless individuals due to the systemic challenges, discrimination, and trauma they face. Because people of color are disproportionately represented in this community, standard housing screening presents a higher barrier for those who identify as BIPOC. By partnering with properties to lower screening criteria, we make levers of discrimination obsolete ensuring equitable opportunity. Neighborhoods become more racially, economically, and experientially diverse. We also deploy housing stability support services designed to address issues upstream to prevent evictions. Households of color are also disproportionately impacted by evictions, and our ability to prevent evictions ensures that our neighbors of color do not have adverse barriers on their record, as evidenced by the fact that only 0.6% of our households have been evicted. Of the 6,200 people housed, 66% identify as BIPOC. Our team is 50% BIPOC and 55% have cultural roots that influence their identities. 65% of staff possess lived experiences that are shared by those served. We strive to have a team and decision-making body that has walked in the shoes of the people we are here to serve and can elevate their voices and needs to drive our strategy and priorities.

In America, we don’t solve problems until they are catastrophic. We spend billions on healthcare for conditions that could have been avoided with good preventative care. Similarly, we only address homelessness when people are living on the streets and in need of dramatic and expensive intervention. Our idea turns traditional thinking on its head. We use technology and partnerships with property owners and managers to detect early signs of instability and deploy financial solutions and connections that prevent thousands of families from going down the path of eviction and towards homelessness. Our solution is novel in its simplicity and scalability, designed to address the crisis with an automated and real-time approach, thus maximizing the ROI and saving taxpayers and communities Billions in homelessness interventions. And most importantly, preventing the deep trauma a family faces during an eviction and period of homelessness.

The national housing crisis demands solutions that match the scale of the problem. To date, we have invested in the technology and partnerships necessary to seize this moment and deliver a solution to meaningfully move the needle on homelessness. In five years, we will connect 50,000+ people to housing and provide stability for thousands more.