Family  Housing
and
Learning Center

FAMILY  HOUSING  AND  LEARNING  CENTER

The Chattanooga Community Kitchen Family Housing and Learning Center, a transitional housing program with supportive services, has been open since May 1999.  The complex has 10 two-bedroom units which are available for homeless families who are working and referred by a shelter.  Homeless families for this program are defined as either a man or woman with children, a married couple with children, a pregnant woman, or a parent in the process of obtaining custody of their children.  One unit of the complex is handicap accessible.

The Family Housing and Learning Center provides a bridge between the shelter and permanent housing.  Participants can stay as long as two years.  The rent is calculated at 30% of their total family income.  Participants create short and long term goals and discuss their plans with their assigned Case Manager.  Referrals for outside services are made by the case managers.  Progress is measured by the completion of the program, participants are given a stipend.

Referrals for this program come exclusively from case workers at emergency shelters and other homeless providers in the Chattanooga area who feel the family is ready for transitional housing.

The Family Housing and Learning Center strives to create a valuable resource that will enrich the quality of life for those homeless individuals who have the desire to achieve permanent housing.  Our goal is that the program will have a positive, long term effect on its participants.

Volunteers are needed to be mentors to the children
and to share of their knowledge
and expertise with the families
in the apartments in a variety of ways.