Second Chance Housing Network

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Executive Summary

Second Chance Housing Network is a nonprofit in Pennsylvania that helps people returning from jail or prison find and keep a safe place to live. Tenant coaches work with each person before and after release, a housing locator builds relationships with landlords and short-term rental assistance is paid directly to the landlord.

Stable housing is one of the strongest supports for a successful return home, yet a record can make it very hard to rent. With this grant we will pay tenant coaches and part of the rental assistance. We never give cash to participants and we do not promise that any person will find housing or that a landlord will say yes. Everyone we work with chooses their own goals.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $314,500. We are asking for $70,000 from a regional reentry fund to Tenant Coach salaries and rental assistance paid directly to landlords. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Second Chance Housing Network is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that includes people who have returned from incarceration. The board meets monthly, approves the budget and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. People are more than their worst day. A safe home is a foundation for work, family and health, and landlords deserve a reliable partner.

What we do:
- Tenant coaching. Coaches meet people before release when possible and after, and help them plan a budget, understand a lease and be a good tenant.
- Housing location. A locator finds landlords willing to rent and helps with applications.
- Rental assistance. Short-term help with deposits and rent, paid directly to the landlord or utility.
- Landlord partnership. A phone line and mediation to help landlords and tenants resolve problems early.

What we do not do. We do not give cash to participants, give legal advice, run a shelter, supervise anyone on parole or probation or share information about a person's record with landlords beyond what the person agrees to. We follow fair housing and background check laws.

Who we serve. Adults returning from incarceration who live in our service area, with priority for people with no other place to go.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Finding housing after incarceration is very hard.

1. Records block applications. Many landlords automatically deny applicants with a record.
2. No money. Deposits and first month's rent are out of reach for people with no income.
3. Homelessness risk. Without housing, people are more likely to end up in shelters or on the street.
4. Strict rules. Some public housing excludes people with records.
5. Little support. Many people return home without a plan or an advocate.

Why it matters now. Stable housing is linked with lower chances of returning to incarceration and with better work and health, and local officials want practical solutions.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed data on people returning to our area and their housing status, surveyed 80 people who had returned and talked with 25 landlords. People said they needed someone to vouch for them and money to move in, and landlords said they would rent with a support person. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay tenant coaches and part of the rental assistance for a full year.

How a person takes part:
1. Referral. A person is referred from a prison, jail, reentry program or comes on their own.
2. Planning. A coach meets the person, learns their goals and makes a housing plan.
3. Search. The housing locator helps find landlords who will consider the person and helps with applications.
4. Move-in help. If eligible, rental assistance for a deposit or first month's rent is paid directly to the landlord.
5. Tenant coaching. The coach checks in regularly for the first year, helps with the budget and works with the landlord if a problem arises.
6. Next steps. People connect to jobs, health care and family reunification services.

What the grant pays for. The request covers the tenant coaches' salaries and rental assistance paid directly to landlords.

What we do not promise. We do not promise that any person will find housing or that a landlord will accept an application. We track outcomes such as people housed and people still housed after one year, and report honestly.

Safety. We follow fair housing law, keep records confidential and never share a person's record without permission. We call 911 in an emergency and direct anyone in crisis to 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are people returning from incarceration in our service area, their families and the landlords who rent to them.

Who we serve. Adults of all ages returning to our city and nearby counties, most with no income at first and many with no place to stay.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to work with about 120 people, to house about 70 and to provide rental assistance to about 50. By Year 5 we plan to work with about 260 people a year. We chose these numbers from the capacity of two coaches at first and three by the third year and from the rental assistance budget.

Where we serve. The city and surrounding area where most returning residents live.

Who else benefits. Families who reunite, landlords with steady tenants and neighborhoods with fewer people in crisis.

How we will be careful. We collect only what we need, never share a person's record without consent and respect each person's choices.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. Public housing authorities. Provide housing but often exclude people with records.
2. Emergency shelters. Provide short-term beds but not long-term housing.
3. Transitional housing programs. Provide supervised housing with limited openings.
4. Faith communities and friends. Provide help but not a full plan.
5. Other reentry nonprofits.

What makes us different. We combine coaching, landlord partnerships and direct rental assistance, and we are led by people who have lived experience. We work with the housing authority and other programs and refer people to them when they have space.

How we avoid duplication. We meet quarterly with the housing authority, the reentry coalition and shelters to share information and coordinate referrals.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach people and landlords once the project is funded.

Referral partners. Prison and jail reentry staff, probation and parole offices, churches, workforce centers and other reentry groups will refer people.

Landlord outreach. The locator will visit landlords, explain our support and offer a phone line and mediation.

Word of mouth. People who have been housed tell others. With permission, we share stories.

Digital outreach. A website and social media will share how to apply for help and invite landlords to partner. We will not post personal information.

Access. Materials will be in plain language, applications will be short and we meet people where they are, including at facilities before release where permitted.

Measuring outreach. We will track how each person heard about us and adjust our outreach where it is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and printing are part of the program budget.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire coaches and the locator, sign agreements with facilities and landlords and set up the database. Months 3 to 12: enroll participants, house people and provide coaching.

Space. A small office near public transit and meeting spaces at partner sites.

Partners. Prisons and jails, probation and parole offices, landlords, the housing authority and workforce centers. Each has a written agreement.

Safety, privacy and housing rules. We follow fair housing and criminal record laws. We never give cash to participants. Rental assistance is paid directly to landlords and utilities after a lease is signed. Records are secure and shared only with consent. We call 911 for emergencies and direct anyone in crisis to 988. Coaches do not supervise people on probation or parole.

Money controls. The board approves the assistance policy, two people review every payment and each payment is recorded against a lease.

Records and reporting. We track people served, people housed and housing retained after six and twelve months and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Staff receive training in reentry, trauma-informed practice and fair housing.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget and partners. Tenant coaches work with participants and landlords, and the housing locator finds and builds relationships with landlords.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $66,000 a year each.
- Tenant Coach: 2, 2, 3, 3, 3 (Years 1 to 5), about $46,000 a year each.
- Housing Locator: 1, 1, 1, 2, 2 (Years 1 to 5), about $48,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek staff with experience in housing or reentry and welcome staff with lived experience. An advisory group of people who have returned, a landlord, a probation officer and a housing attorney meets quarterly.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (2 to 3 months before the grant starts): hire the coaches and locator, sign facility and landlord agreements, set up the database and finalize the rental assistance policy
- Year 1: work with about 120 people, house about 70 and provide rental assistance to about 50. The budget is $314,500.
- Year 2: add a third coach and a landlord advisory group. The budget is $320,000.
- Year 3: add a second locator and peer mentors. The budget is $373,000.
- Year 4: expand to a second county. The budget is $428,500.
- Year 5: work with about 260 people a year and publish a plain results report. The budget is $434,500.

How we will measure results: people served, people housed, people still housed after six and twelve months, landlords partnered, rental assistance paid directly to landlords and participants' satisfaction. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $70,000 from a regional reentry fund for Tenant Coach salaries and rental assistance paid directly to landlords, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Tenant Coach salaries, $45,000.
- Other: Rental assistance paid directly to landlords, $25,000 (other funds add $5,000).

Other money in the program. This request is about 26% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $314,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $11,200 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $270,500; individual donations $28,000; landlord and business partner sponsors $16,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $66,000; tenant coach $92,000; housing locator $48,000; rental assistance and deposits paid directly to landlords and utilities about $60,000; move-In supplies and household basics about $14,000; landlord engagement and mediation about $6,000; administration and insurance about $16,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $16,300 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,800 for laptops, a secure database and a locked file cabinet, $2,700 for meeting room furniture and a small storage area for move-in supplies, $2,400 for opening supply of household basics, $2,600 for staff training in reentry, trauma-informed practice and fair housing, $2,800 for policy review and legal setup, and $2,000 for banners, flyers and a simple website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($16,300), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $3,200) and a cash cushion of about $75,500, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $95,500. We start with $18,000 of our own savings and $79,000 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $97,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $314,500 in Year 1 to about $434,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $270,500, $264,000, $305,000, $348,500, $342,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $11,200, $11,100, $12,300, $13,500 and $13,000 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $87,300, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $15,725 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and landlord and business sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. Landlords and local government may contribute to a shared assistance fund.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Landlords may say no. The locator builds many relationships and offers mediation.
- A tenant may fall behind on rent. Coaches help early and landlords can call us.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- A privacy mistake could harm someone. We lock records and train staff.
- Funds may run out. We set clear criteria and keep a waiting list.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Your rental assistance policy and a sample landlord agreement.
- Agreements with reentry facilities and the housing authority.
- Your privacy policy and fair housing policy.
- Letters of support from landlords and participants.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $270,500 in Year 1, growing to $342,500 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $28,000 in Year 1, growing to $52,000 in Year 5.
- Landlord and Business Partner Sponsors: $16,000 in Year 1, growing to $40,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: rental assistance and deposits paid directly to landlords and utilities $60,000, move-In supplies and household basics $14,000, landlord engagement and mediation $6,000, and administration and insurance $16,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $15,725 (5% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs