04/29/2026
PSA to Community Referring Agencies: Help Us Help Your Clients Get Housed — and Stay Housed
At Building Hope Building Commitment, we move quickly when a referral comes in. Our goal is not just to help someone obtain housing — our goal is to help them sustain and maintain housing.
But crisis housing moves are hard enough on families, individuals, veterans, and children. They become even harder when referrals come without the basic supports, documentation, and truthful information needed to make the placement successful.
If your agency refers a client to BHBC, please come prepared to answer one important question:
How can your organization help us help them?
That may include support with move-in costs, security deposits, first month’s rent, furniture, household essentials, utility setup, transportation, documentation, and ongoing case coordination.
Please do not refer a client and allow BHBC to be the first organization to tell them that the housing option is not affordable, sustainable, or realistic. That creates disappointment, confusion, and unnecessary trauma for people who are already in crisis.
And please — do not coach clients to be dishonest about their household composition.
If a client is seeking housing for themselves and their children, spouse, partner, or other household members, that information must be disclosed upfront. Do not tell someone to say, “It’s just me,” when the reality is that an entire family unit needs housing.
That is unfair to the client.
It is unfair to the landlord.
It is unfair to the housing provider.
And it can place the household at risk of losing the very housing we are working hard to secure.
Before referring, please help confirm:
Can the client afford the unit?
Can they maintain the monthly obligation?
Who is actually moving into the household?
Are all household members documented?
Does the client understand the expectations?
Is your agency able to contribute toward the stabilization plan?
BHBC removes barriers to obtaining, sustaining, and maintaining housing. We work expeditiously to support referrals, coordinate with landlords, and stabilize households — but housing retention requires honesty, preparation, and partnership.
Housing placement is not the finish line. Stability is.
If your agency wants to refer clients to BHBC, please connect with us directly so we can provide clarity around what we need from referring partners to move people into housing responsibly, quickly, and with the strongest chance of long-term success.
Let’s stop setting people up for temporary relief and start building real housing stability.
Help us help them — the right way.
