Our 2020 Annual Report
One year ago, none of us had any idea that a pandemic was about to hit Idaho.
Our team was already working hard on the frontline of the housing crisis, doing our best to keep people housed when they couldn't pay their rent.
Last year, our mission proved to be more important than ever before. And despite unprecedented demand and many unexpected obstacles, our team stepped up.
At the same time, our community stood behind us and in 2020 allowed us to serve double the number of households we provided with rental assistance in 2019.
I'm proud to share with you our 2020 Annual Report which demonstrates our team's resilience, creativity, and determination to do whatever it takes to serve tenants at risk of eviction and homelessness - as well as our community's belief in this important cause.
In 2021, we hope you'll continue to support us in setting another record year.
We are thankful for the extra resources the federal government has dedicated to our cause and are making plans to get this funding to renters who need it the most, and will be leaning on you to help us facilitate this funding.
Before I close, I want to share a story with you about one of the tenants we worked with last year. Jennifer is a single mother who got her hours cut at work due to COVID-19 and was going through a rough divorce, having to pay thousands of dollars in mediation. In the fall, she fell behind in her rent. Today, our case manager Kendal is sending a check to her landlord to cover her rent balance of $2,650.
This isn't quite a success story, as she will still be left with just over $800 in late fees. Kendal talked to the landlord about dropping some of the fees and she refused, saying that Jennifer left her no choice and that she needs to keep adding fees to prove a point. Since then, Kendal has gotten Jennifer in contact with several other community resources including IHFA, St. Vincent de Paul, Catholic Charities, and Health & Welfare Navigators in an effort to help her cover some of this balance, and we hope it will be enough to keep her housed.
As more tenants are struggling to pay their rent on time, our case managers continue to see late fees cropping up as a major problem. From our staff's perspective, property managers often use late fees not to protect themselves but to penalize clients who are already struggling.
As many of you know, I have recently been privileged enough to join our state's legislature, as I step into a part-time role as Jesse Tree's Executive Director until our legislative session ends in March. Tackling the issue of exorbitant late fees is one of the issues I am most committed to working on in this new role, and we will keep you updated on our progress to find more balance on this important issue.
Thank you all - again - for your support this year, and we look forward to continuing to keep the traumatic, life-altering experience of eviction and homelessness from happening to our neighbors and community together this year.