64 active residents have conquered chronic homelessness within the Towne Twin Village.
- Kinetech transformed homeless housing management for HF Communitas and the Towne Twin Village in San Antonio.
- The application integrates several composable modules from the Kinetech GovCloud including Property Management, Case Management, and Leasing
- GovCloud supports Integrated payments through CardConnect and Clover offering convenient and secure transactions with future payment tokenization.
- Delivered application in 4 months with a single intermediate developer and part-time architect.
- Optimizing operations, the solution efficiently manages 60 units, providing dignified living conditions for 64 residents, with growth planned for an additional ~140 Units
- Granular control features safeguard resident privacy, ensuring secure and organized operations.
- Kinetech delivered an adaptable and flexible solution and planned enhancements for a full-featured case management system and services management.
Background:
Homelessness is a major challenge for almost every major city in the United States. From Occupy Wall Street to COVID-19, these events only exacerbated the issue.In 2019, the City of San Antonio (COSA) commissioned a study on homelessness. The final report recommended that the city sponsor several single-site Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) developments such as the one being developed by HFCC.
What is PSH / Housing First Principles?
Housing First is a homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing to people experiencing homelessness, thus ending their homelessness and serving as a platform from which they can pursue personal goals and improve their quality of life. This approach does not require people experiencing homelessness to address all of their problems including behavioral health problems, or to graduate through a series of services programs before they can access housing.
This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly, or attending to substance use issues.
Housing First does not mandate participation in services either before obtaining housing or to retain housing. The Housing First approach views housing as the foundation for life improvement and enables access to permanent housing without prerequisites or conditions beyond those of a typical renter. Supportive services are offered to support people with housing stability and individual well-being, but participation is not required as services are more effective when a person chooses to engage.
Introducing HF Communitas / Towne Twin Village
HF Communitas is a compassionate entity managing a campus dedicated to housing the chronically homeless. The community, dubbed “Towne Twin Village” (to honor the site of the original drive-in movie theater, has become a beacon of hope in San Antonio. This community is based on Housing First principles transforming lives with over 200 homes for the city's most vulnerable, those facing chronic homelessness (i.e. those facing multiple years of homelessness).
Developed in three phases since May 2021, this community-driven initiative follows Housing First principles, providing not just homes but essential support services as well. With the first residents calling the village home in April 2023, Towne Twin Village stands committed to ending chronic homelessness and fostering a thriving community in San Antonio.
Challenges
Amid San Antonio's housing crisis, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic heightened existing challenges that homeless populations and supportive services were facing. The city grappled with a shortage of affordable housing units and a notorious "landlord bottleneck," as highlighted by Patrick Wigmore's 2019 study. With over 2,900 individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, including seniors and people with disabilities, many were facing formidable obstacles in accessing safe and affordable housing. HF Commutas was dedicated to helping these populations and identified crucial challenges with their processes.
Addressing homelessness presents multifaceted challenges, particularly in urban areas like San Antonio. One significant challenge is the difficulty faced by social workers in reaching and providing care to at-risk residents scattered across the city. These individuals often move frequently, making it challenging to track their whereabouts and offer essential care such as dental services, haircuts, showers, and medical checkups.
The traditional approach of social workers involves commuting to the "last known whereabouts" of these residents, a time-consuming and inefficient process. This fragmented approach hinders the delivery of consistent and comprehensive care, perpetuating the cycle of homelessness and exacerbating the challenges faced by vulnerable populations.
Solution
With just one intermediate developer and a part-time architect, Kinetech delivered a transformative solution addressing HF Commutas / Towne Twin Village's intricate challenges in managing a campus for the chronically homeless.
The application is comprised of three different modules with document management and payment integrations, allowing HF Commutas / Towne Twin Village to focus on helping the homeless, rather than managing administrative needs. Features include:
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Property Management module: ensures the seamless assignment of occupants to these homes, with features like visitor tracking and granular control over access, safeguarding resident privacy.
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Case Management module: facilitates the assessment of applicants, controls access based on user roles, and tracks meetings and case notes, promoting efficient and personalized care for each resident.
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Leasing Module: streamlines leasing processes manages subsidies and vouchers, and automates alerts and renewals.
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Document Management: assigns document types and controls access based on user roles, contributing to a secure and well-organized system.
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Integrated payments: CardConnect and Clover provide convenient and secure transaction options, while the tokenization of payment details ensures future payments without a physical card presence.
This solution not only optimizes operational efficiency but also contributes to the well-being of 64 active residents, offering a beacon of hope in the fight against chronic homelessness. The holistic application is designed to assist those who have lived on the streets for a decade and efficiently manages 60 properties, offering a range of tiny homes and mobile homes to provide dignified living conditions and access to essential services such as medical and dental care.
Towne Twin Village now provides centralized housing and support services, eliminating the need for social workers to track individuals down across the city. By offering a stable and supportive environment, Towne Twin Village enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of care delivery, ultimately improving outcomes for residents and reducing barriers to accessing essential services.
Kinetech’s collaborative success with HF Communitas / Towne Twin Village is enhanced by the system's adaptability, allowing for easy adjustments as needs evolve, and contributing to the revolutionized management of homeless housing. Future enhancements of this application will include a full-featured case management system and services management.
