How We Help

Help. Hope. Housing. Healing.

Help

Our focus lies in the journey that our residents are taking. The paths that lead to experiencing homelessness vary greatly, but the commonality is that residents arrive in survival mode.

Residents of Rainbow Village have a safe housing community where dignity, self-respect, and hope are restored. We strive not to work for our families, but rather with our families and to truly listen to their personalized needs, and guide them to wholeness. 

With each resident beginning in a different place, their path to economic self-sufficiency varies. We utilize an individual centric model that takes different goals and starting points into consideration. This tool allows residents to see their progress and build confidence in the continuation of their work in their own journey. 

Our Bridge to Economic Self-Sufficiency is our programming guideline for residents that focuses on five core areas:

Family Stability
Well-Being
Financial Management
Education & Training
Employment & Career

Hope

For our residents, the journey to self-sufficiency requires working through years or in many cases, generational traumas. These traumas are related to homelessness, poverty and for many, domestic violence. 

Each prospective resident is interviewed and assessed prior to joining the ASPIRE Residential Program. This allows us to determine their needs and learn more about their unique path. ASPIRE participants work with success coaches, to identify and pursue goals for themselves and their families using the Bridge to Self-Sufficiency Model.

Housing

Rainbow Village provides safe, affordable housing for up to 30 families for up to two years. 

Safe, affordable housing is the foundation for the healing process. ASPIRE Residents adhere to community guidelines, pay below-market rent, and work to increase their income, decrease their debt, and increase their savings while in the program.

 Residents’ children who are not already enrolled in other after school programs are enrolled in the Rainbow Village ACADEMY. The ACADEMY provides academic enrichment, social skill development and serves as a safe haven for children from elementary to high school age. 

Healing

We recognize that homelessness is a traumatic experience and that in order to heal, it requires both guidance and time. Poverty cycle research states that it takes 5 years of recovery to overcome the instability of experiencing homelessness. For most, two years is not enough time to reach economic self-sufficiency. For this reason, after up to two years of living at Rainbow Village, residents are transitioned into the alumni program, THRIVE. 

The THRIVE Alumni program provides an additional three years of support. Alumni are still able to enroll their children in the Rainbow Village ACADEMY. THRIVE Alumni work with the Alumni Coordinator to continue making progress toward their goals with ongoing support of Financial Counseling, Success Coaching, and Mentorship.