A World We Dare To Imagine Part III: The HER Foundation

The HER Foundation  

Mission Statement

The goal of The Housing, Employment, and Reintegration Foundation, The HER Foundation for short, is to develop buildings that provide the homeless with housing, work, and rehabilitation. By providing the homeless with these tools, we plan to move them out of the complex after three years and reintroduce them to the job and housing pool.

The Organization

How often have you driven home on a cold, rainy evening and seen homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk? This past Winter, I encountered this situation multiple times, and each time I felt a stronger pain for these people. Nobody should have to live this way, and it is our job as citizens of the universe to help. For these reasons, I believe The HER Foundation will help homeless people get back on their feet and reintroduce them to daily societal norms.

I've grown up around real estate, and I'm a Real Estate Development major here at USC. I believe that all people should have access to a roof over their head when they decide to go to sleep. The HER Foundation will team up with capital firms looking to invest in a charitable asset to purchase run-down, low-cost residential buildings. We'll put money and work into making the building a liveable place, and redesign the ground floor retail to give it a fresh look that attracts new customers. Residential units will be converted into small micro units, thus maximizing the number of people that can live on-site. Once the building is ready for occupancy, we will begin the process of the moving-in and employing homeless people.

Each homeless person, couple, or family is given a unit that becomes theirs for the next three years. In those three years, they will be offered mental health counseling and emotional therapy if necessary. They'll be employed in the ground floor retail shops and restaurants working for minimum wage, where a quarter of their income will be paid to the development for upkeep and maintenance. Since their housing costs are only a quarter of their income, the other three-quarters will be saved and used to purchase food. They'll have three years to make the most of their time in The HER Foundation, and then they will be reintroduced to the job and housing pool.

Profits from on-site restaurants, retail, and housing income will be used to pay off the development and handle building maintenance. The ultimate goal of The HER Foundation is to develop sustainable housing communities that employee, house, and rehabilitate the homeless. If successful, this self-sustaining building would set a precedent for giving the homeless a place to live and getting them back on their feet.