Rising Together Women's Transitional Housing Program

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Executive Summary

Rising Together Women's Transitional Housing Program is a nonprofit in Tennessee that gives women leaving violence, incarceration, addiction treatment or homelessness a safe home for nine to twelve months. Each resident has her own bed, a case manager and a personal plan for work, school, health and housing, and we help her move into permanent housing with a deposit and furniture.

The months after leaving a hard situation are the most dangerous, and there are very few beds for women in our area. A safe room, a plan and time can let a woman rebuild.

With this grant we will serve about 14 women in Year 1 in 1 house with ten beds. We are not an emergency shelter or a treatment program, and we refer residents to licensed providers. We promise a safe, well-run house, respect for every woman and honest records.

Our Year 1 budget is about $256,500, growing to about $354,500 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 5 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a House Manager, a Case Manager and two part-time resident aides) and 9 by Year 5.

We are asking the Volunteer Women's Housing Foundation for $60,000 for the Case Manager, a resident support fund and food and household supplies. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Rising Together Women's Transitional Housing Program is a nonprofit organization in Tennessee. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. To give women a safe home, steady support and the time they need to rebuild their lives on their own terms.

What we do.
- Operate a transitional house where women live for nine to twelve months at no cost.
- Assign each resident a case manager and a personal plan for work, school, health and housing.
- Provide meals, household supplies and a safe, quiet place to rest.
- Teach life and money skills and connect residents with education and jobs.
- Help each woman find permanent housing and move on with a deposit and furniture assistance.
- Follow every graduate for twelve months after she leaves.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are not an emergency shelter, a treatment program or a legal service. We do not provide medical or mental health treatment and we refer residents to licensed providers. The house has clear rules about safety and respect. We do not promise any outcome. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of women from a local church and a former resident of a shelter began offering rooms and meals to women leaving hard situations, one at a time. The need was greater than the space. We kept simple records of who stayed, how long and where they went. This proposal asks for support to move from a single donated room to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

A woman leaving violence, incarceration, addiction treatment or homelessness often has nowhere safe to go next, and the months after leaving are the most dangerous for relapse and return to a harmful situation.

Cost. Shelters offer a bed for weeks and many transitional programs have fees. A woman with no income cannot rebuild without a place to live.

Access. There are very few beds for women in our area, and waiting lists are long.

Safety and trust. Residents, neighbors and funders want to know that the house is safe, well run and respectful of everyone.

Missed benefits. Women without a place to rebuild often return to what harmed them or to the streets.

What we hear.
- A resident says she slept easier in her first week here than in a year.
- A counselor says her clients have nowhere to go after treatment.
- A neighbor says the house has been quiet and tidy.
- A graduate says she kept her job because she had a place to come home to.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that a safe room, a plan and time can let a woman rebuild.

Products & Services

Rising Together Women's Transitional Housing Program gives women who need a safe place to rebuild their lives a safe, welcoming place to rebuild their lives.

How the program works.
1. Referral. Shelters, treatment centers, courts and agencies refer women to our intake process.
2. Interview. A case manager meets each applicant, explains house rules and confirms she is ready to join.
3. Move-in. Each resident has her own bed and storage and shares common spaces with up to nine other women.
4. Personal plan. The case manager and the resident write a plan for work, education, health and housing.
5. Daily life. Residents share chores and meals, attend weekly house meetings and take part in classes.
6. Moving on. We help each woman find permanent housing and provide a deposit and furniture assistance.
7. Aftercare. We check in monthly for twelve months and invite graduates back for community events.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our case manager, house manager and resident aides pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Residency is free. We welcome every woman who meets our referral criteria and is willing to follow house rules, and we offer materials in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Adult women leaving violence, incarceration, addiction treatment or homelessness who need a safe place to rebuild. Eligibility is based on referral, readiness and house rules, and the house serves women of every background.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our single donated room we turned away more women than we could house and kept a waiting list. Agencies told us that many more women need a transitional home than the area offers. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 14 participants at 1 homes. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 22.

Where participants come from.
- Shelters and treatment centers.
- Courts, probation and reentry programs.
- Churches and community agencies.
- Graduates who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Children and families gain a more stable mother. Employers gain reliable workers. The community gains neighbors who are safe and contributing.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a woman with her own key. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Emergency shelters. Essential and short-term. We offer a longer stay.

2. Treatment programs. Provide clinical care and do not offer housing after discharge. We offer a place to land.

3. Permanent supportive housing. Excellent and has waits of years. We offer a bridge.

4. Churches. Offer generous short-term help. We offer structure and a plan.

5. Staying with friends or family. Unstable and often unsafe.

What makes us different.
- Free, nine to twelve months, in a home with other women.
- A case manager and personal plan for every resident.
- A safe, quiet house with clear rules.
- Help with a deposit and furniture at move-out.
- Aftercare for twelve months.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with shelters, treatment centers, courts and other housing programs to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Shelters and treatment centers. We will give staff a short referral form and a named contact.
- Courts and reentry programs. We will present at meetings and share information.
- Churches and agencies. We will talk with leaders who know women in need.
- Neighbors. We will hold an open house and share house rules and contacts.
- Word of mouth. Graduates tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit house staff through social work programs, shelters and faith groups.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, women housed, plans completed and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Open the house and accept the first residents.
- Months 4 to 10: Run the house with daily support, weekly meetings and a case management plan for every resident.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey residents, graduates and neighbors, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. The program operates in a leased house in a residential neighborhood with ten beds, a kitchen, shared rooms and a small office.

Safety and privacy.
- The house has locked doors, a posted safety plan, smoke detectors and an emergency plan, and an adult staff member is on site at night.
- Visitors follow written rules and the address is kept private.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $14,000 of equipment once at the start: beds, bedding and storage for ten residents ($8,000), kitchen appliances and cookware ($3,000), smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, locks and safety equipment ($3,000). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The House Manager, paid $40,000 a year, runs the house. The Case Manager, paid $44,000, works with each resident. Two part-time resident aides, each paid $16,000 a year, cover evenings and nights. We add aides and a second house in Year 4.

Management & Organization

Linda Strickland, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work after years as a counselor in a shelter, where I watched women leave with nowhere to go. I will complete the training we require of our staff so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The House Manager runs the house, the Case Manager works with each resident and part-time resident aides cover evenings and nights. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a social worker, a nurse, a formerly homeless woman, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney and a pastor. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A shelter director, a licensed counselor and a county housing staff member give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $54,000 a year; house Manager, paid $40,000 a year; case Manager, paid $44,000 a year; resident Aide (part-time), paid $16,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 14 participants at 1 homes.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 16 participants at 1 homes.
- Year 3: About 18 participants at 1 homes.
- Year 4: About 20 participants at 2 homes.
- Year 5: About 22 participants at 2 homes.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 55 percent of our budget, down from about 66 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $60,000 from the Volunteer Women's Housing Foundation for the Case Manager, a resident support fund and food and household supplies, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Case Manager salary, $44,000.
- Other: Resident support fund, $8,000.
- Supplies: Food and household supplies, $8,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 35% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $256,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $10,700 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $170,500; state Housing Services Funding $50,000; faith and Corporate Partners $24,000; individual Donors $12,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $54,000; house Manager $40,000; case Manager $44,000; resident Aide (part-time) $16,000; house Lease and Utilities about $36,000; food and Household Supplies about $14,000; resident Support Fund about $8,000; workforce and Education Partners about $3,000; staff Training about $3,000; administration and Insurance about $9,000; about $4,800 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $24,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $8,000 for beds, bedding and storage for ten residents; $3,000 for kitchen appliances and cookware; $3,000 for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, locks and safety equipment; $2,500 for attorney review of the resident agreement, house rules and privacy policy; $1,500 for signs, flyers and a simple website; $2,000 for background checks and staff training; $4,000 for first insurance payment and lease deposit.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($24,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $60,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $85,000. We start with $10,000 from our founding board and $77,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a congregation, $87,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $256,500 in Year 1 to about $354,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $170,500, $156,500, $160,000, $192,500 and $196,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: state Housing Services Funding from $50,000 to $82,000; faith and Corporate Partners from $24,000 to $48,000; individual Donors from $12,000 to $28,000. Our surplus is planned at about $10,700 in Year 1, about $11,200 in Year 2, about $12,900 in Year 3, about $15,500 in Year 4 and about $17,300 in Year 5. We grow from 1 homes to 2 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $76,200, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $10,260 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per woman. In Year 1, our total costs are about $17,557 per woman served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more woman served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $15,327 per woman.

After the grant. State housing services funding, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free housing option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

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: one neighborhood, a handful of womans and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
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: $170,500 in Year 1, growing to $196,500 in Year 5.
- State Housing Services Funding: $50,000 in Year 1, growing to $82,000 in Year 5.
- Faith and Corporate Partners: $24,000 in Year 1, growing to $48,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $12,000 in Year 1, growing to $28,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $54,000; house Manager $40,000; case Manager $44,000; resident Aide (part-time) $16,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: house Lease and Utilities $36,000; food and Household Supplies $14,000; resident Support Fund $8,000; workforce and Education Partners $3,000; staff Training $3,000; administration and Insurance $9,000. These grow between 4% and 5% a year.
- Equipment: $14,000 at the start, then $2,000 to $3,000 a year.
- Startup costs: $24,000, paid once from $87,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 14 in Year 1, growing to about 22 in Year 5. Sites: 1 in Year 1, growing to 2 by Year 5. The house is open year-round, and each woman stays nine to twelve months.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs