Program-Enriched Housing
By Mark Fogarty
6 min read
Mercy Housing’s Resident Services Impact Is Huge
Mercy Housing has a big footprint, with properties in 33 states and five regions of the country. The affordable housing nonprofit also has a big footprint in the lives of the occupants of those properties, with an extensive, diverse resident services effort that targets five different areas to make a big positive impact on their lives.
According to Laura Andes, who heads the Mercy Housing effort, resident services are provided to residents of 73 percent of its 350 or so projects around the country, with the bulk being done in-house and some being outsourced to third parties.
That 73 percent hits the organization’s current target exactly.
“Not every property needs services,” she says, “so I’m not sure 100 percent is an ultimate goal.” Small properties, for instance, provide a challenge.
The big nonprofit assiduously gathers data to make sure its programs are on the right track and producing results.
The five main service areas are health and wellness, housing stability, community participation, financial stability and after school programs for children. They target three key Mercy populations: families, seniors and those in need of supportive housing.
Services are provided in support of Mercy’s mission statement: “To create stable, vibrant and healthy communities by developing, financing and operating affordable, program-enriched housing for families, seniors and people with special needs who lack the economic resources to access quality, safe housing opportunities.”
Half of Mercy’s properties are in California, Andes says. It also has a presence in the Northwest (Washington mostly), the Great Lakes “Lakefront” area, the Southeast and the Mountain Plains (Mercy is headquartered in Denver).
Huge Scope and Structure
The scope of Mercy’s resident services is “a huge commitment,” reports Andes, who is senior vice president, national resident services for the nonprofit. It is so big (a total of 250 to 300 employees) that “each of the five regions has its own operational structure,” she says. Resident services are administered nationally by two people in the company’s Denver headquarters, including Andes.
“One of the things that sets Mercy apart is we are so committed to resident services,” says Andes. A service coordinator for residents at a senior property, for instance, might coordinate a healthcare partner to come in once a month to check blood pressure or measure blood sugar. Or they might coordinate an outside group to come in to offer seniors an exercise program.
How does Mercy pay for this trove of enhancements to residents’ lives? Three main ways, according to Andes: grants, fundraising and third parties offering services free or at a discount. There is also some income generated through the properties themselves that can be used.
Mercy’s children’s programs have been steadily expanding in recent years, Andes says. Mercy is rigorous about surveying its residents to see if their services are on track. She says the most recent assessments for the California region found 80 percent of children reported a positive experience of the program and 93 percent found at least one staff person there to be supportive. “Just having a supporting adult can be protective against trauma,” she notes.
“We’re happy with those numbers, which have improved over the last couple of years,” Andes says.
Surveys of 10,000 Residents
Mercy’s 2019 resident services survey was extensive, involving almost 10,000 residents at 73 properties in all five of Mercy’s regions. (It notes Mercy’s first residencies began in 1970, 50 years ago, if you count the pre-Mercy history of some projects.)
The conclusion? “Resident services participation was associated with longer residencies and fewer negative move-outs. Ultimately, this is an encouraging finding showing resident services participants have better housing stability across several types of analyses and across most priority program areas,” the 19-page study concludes.
In the health and wellness area, Andes notes Mercy has been tracking how many residents have access to medical insurance and if they have a primary care physician (PCP). Back in 2014, 69 percent of residents had primary doctors. In 2019, 83 percent reported PCPs. Routine checkups among residents increased from 83 percent in 2014 to 90.4 percent last year.
Another important area is financial stability.
“A lot of our residents are not banked,” Andes notes. “There’s another challenge.” Mercy partners with local organizations to give multi-week presentations on topics, such as banking, credit and budgeting. There is also some one-to-one coaching done “to help people strengthen that area.”
More to Come
There are additional services Mercy would like to add, Andes says. For instance, it hopes to tackle the problem of isolation among some of its senior residents, particularly low-income seniors. Another thing it has an eye on for elderly residents is fall prevention, with a balance program designed to do just that.
Andes enjoys pointing out individual resident successes, such as the resident who won a nationwide scholarship from the Boys and Girls Clubs.
She has visited “many, many” Mercy properties, she says. Asked to talk about one that stands out for services, she cited a property in Denver that provides supportive housing for 70 formerly homeless people. What made a big difference for those folks was an outstanding services coordinator, she says, a person who built relationships and trust with the residents. Soon, residents began to trust each other.
As a result, emergency room visits, hospitalizations and calls to 911 “showed a fairly steady decline,” she says.
“Instead of calling 911, I would go over and talk to my neighbor,” Andes said one resident told her. “If I was having an asthma attack, I could knock on my neighbor’s door instead of calling 911.”
Andes concludes, “That’s one of the times you see the impact of a really strong coordinator.”
And sometimes, Mercy doesn’t need to solve its residents’ problems. It is running a pilot where community members get together to share what they need and what they can offer to others.
In one case, a resident becoming a barber offered free haircuts to neighbors. In another, a resident with disabilities asked for help in washing her floor. A third offered to lend out his tent to anyone who wanted it.
“That kind of thing really builds community,” she says.
