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Improving Housing Stability and Financial Security
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Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc. | 2401 Lake Street | Omaha, NE 68111Phone: (402) 934-7921 | Fax: (402) 934-7928 | www.fhasinc.org
TABLE of contentsExecutive Director’s Message
Our History
A Year in Review
Our Services
Our Mission, Vision & Purpose
Community Impact
Program Lends Helping Hand
Agency Financials
Our Supporters
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The current economic times have resulted in a heightened demand for FHAS ser-
vices. While service levels remain consistent today, more clients have a complexity
of circumstances that may include joblessness, imminent threat of eviction or fore-
closure, or seemingly insurmountable financial issues. These issues have made our
mission more critical than ever, “improving quality of life and eliminating poverty by
helping people achieve housing stability and financial security through education
and advocacy.”
Over our 47 years, FHAS has educated over 1,000 renters, preventing homelessness
for over 7,000, and providing over $1,000,000 in rent and utility assistance. We have
educated over 5,000 prospective homebuyers, with over 1,400 home purchases,
over 900 mortgages (through subsidiary Omaha 100, Inc), and over 300 foreclos-
ures avoided. We performed 900 fair housing reviews, were granted 305 reasonable
accommodations, and received $800,000 in relief for our clients.
We look forward to continuing this essential work to build strong and stable house-
holds and communities!
Executive Director’sMESSAGE
Teresa Hunter Teresa Hunter, MPA, JD.
“ We value collaborations that share our commitment to help people succeed. Working together we can go beyond what has been done in the past and find unconventional waysto deliver and expand ourclient success.”
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Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc. (FHAS) was chartered in 1968 as the Urban League Housing Foundation to improve opportunities for low-in¬-come families to purchase homes in Omaha. Located in the heart of North Omaha, FHAS purchased and rehab-ilitated homes for resale or rental in the early 70’s. With a goal to address housing ills in the surrounding community, FHAS became certified by HUD as a comprehensive housing counselling agency.
Over its 47 years advocating for the working poor, FHAS’ programs and services have evolved to include a broad menu of financial and as-set-building opportunities that lead to independence and lay the founda-
tion for family success. Realizing that many of the pover-ty-related issues in our community are generational, FHAS focuses on education as a basis for eliminating barriers to economic justice and success, equipping people with the knowledge and resources they need to build stability, changing our com-munity one household at a time.
About Us
Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc. was founded in 1968.
Program Areas Include:
• Homelessness Prevention• Homebuyer Education• Financial Education• Tax Assistance• Fair Housing• Homeowner Finance
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a.
b. c.
d.
e.f.
OutcomesORIENTED Client F FOCUSED
a year in REVIEW
HAS addresses housing and financial issues that
prevent success. Our services extend to spe-
cialized segments of the population, including
domestic violence survivors, youth transitioning
out of foster care, returning citizens from military
deployment or incarceration, teen parents,
reconnecting fathers, and lower-wage corpor-
ate employees. We assist persons seeking to
avert a crisis and/or to proactively improve their
housing, finances, and quality of life. Through
our unique combination of services that change
the way we think about money, saving, spending
priorities, and preparing for the future, we erad-
icate poverty and bring about self-sufficiency,
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g.
h.
a). Homeownership: The Norris Family became new homeowners through FHAS’s pre-purchase workshops
b). 2nd Annual Dodging for Dollars: Dodgeball benefit youth aging out of foster care
c). Friends of FHAS: Quarterly networking event for community members and partners
d). Omaha 100, Inc, celebrated its 1,000th homeowner event at the Lake Point Center Omaha in October
e). Toast to Fair Housing: Over 225 people enjoyed dinner and music in celebration of Fair Housing month
f ). Opportunity Passport Program helps particpant purchase an asset
g). Tenant Services staff working closely with local property managers
h). Earned Income Credit Program assists tax payers and is the largest poverty-reduction program in the
United States
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FHAS’s Homebuyer Education program
educates potential homebuyers about
the benefits and the responsibilities of
home ownership.
This program connects with housing
developers to prepare low-to-moderate
income homebuyers for a successful
purchase, and to ensure that they have
the knowledge to not just get a mort-
gage, but to remnain in the home while
becoming financially secure through
our highly effective and empowering
education, counseling and advocacy.
Education is essential to helping
people overcome barriers to obtaining
affordable housing.
“ FHAS has helped my wife and I get out finances in ‘order and the workshops were very beneficial during our quest to homeownership. “ -Don & Mary
2014 Agency Highlights
Prevented Homelessness/
Obtained Housing 1,986
Foreclosures Avoided 15
Households requiring homeless prevention services 3,726
Total Tax Returns 6,227
Fair Housing Resolutions Negotiated 1,217
Residents Budgeting, Credit Repair and Saving 618
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MISSION: To improve the quaiity of life and eliminate poverty through housing stability and financial security.
VISION: All families will be stably housed and financially strong.
PURPOSE: To educate and empower people to obtain, maintain and retain housing, and reach financial security, advancing prosperity of the community.
OURmission, vision & purpose
“People coming together as a community can
make things happen.”-Jacob Rees-Mogg
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The communities that we serve rely on us to help them avoid
homelessness, access affordable housing, understand their housing rights and eliminate poverty. Our
community involvement is through collaborative partnerships with
private and non profit organizations.
895
92%
23%
$3,347,226
Disabled individuals received services ranging from housing,
financial education and fair housing assistance.
of Omaha’s homeless populationrepresent families with children.
of clients served arelow to moderate income
in Earned Income Credits claimed for prior tax year
6,300young people in Nebraska age out
of foster care without a permanent family.
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$328,922 $328,922 $452,500$100,728Rent and Utility
Funds DistributedValue of relief
received for clientsMatching Funds
Distributed
IMPACT BUILDSstonger communities
Homelessness Prevention Many families are only one paycheck
away from homelessness, and for
1,642 in the Omaha area this fact is
all too real. The majority of homeless
in the Metro Omaha area are single
mothers with children, representing the
fastest growing segment of the home-
less population. These circumstances
lead to poor school attendance and
childhood health problems. As stated
in the Economics of Poverty, more than
3.5 million Americans are affected by
homelessness for at least part of the
year each year.
“We feared that we would have to move back in with relatives, or worse face homelessness. “
Our goal is to improve conditions in our community and make the greatest impact, we diligently make the effort to meet our clients at the ground level.
According to the Corporation for Enterprise Develop-ment (CFED.org) January 2013, 29% of Nebraska resid-ents have almost no savings to cover emergencies or save for the future.
Tenant Services Fair Housing Financial Management
FHAS provides individuals and families with the know-ledge necessary to make sound financial choices, increase savings, decrease debt, and eliminate payday lenders. FHAS’s financial education program helps people to understand the concepts of saving, earning interest, and budgeting, providing the skills to manage credit and loans and to work with financial institutions and assets.
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Family Housing Advisory Services partners with the United Way of the Midlands and the Siemer Institute for Family Stability to Stabilize Families in Omaha.
Program Lends Helping Hand
Don’t tell Nikka Walker something is impossible. Unless you want her to make it happen.
Walker, 34, had a son while still at Burke High School. She continued to study at Blackburn Alternative School and vowed that she would graduate with her class.“I had people in my ear talking ... ‘You will not graduate with a son,’ ” she said. “I kept telling them: I bet I will. You keep telling me what I can’t do, and I’ll do it.” As it turned out, she was so motivated that she could have graduated early.
Walker uses that same motivation in a year-old housing stability program for parents of school-age children through Family Housing Advisory Services and United Way of the Midlands. After living in several locations and suffering financial setbacks, she’s working with a case manager in the Family Support Pro-gram to achieve her goals: perman-ent housing, debt reduction and a balanced budget.
The Siemer Institute for Family Sta-bility (SIFS) is a national, integrated, comprehensive model to prevent family homelessness and reduce school mobility.
It was created to capitalize on the impressive successes of 10 programs designed to reduce student mobility through homelessness prevention in cit-ies throughout the country. The Siemer Institute has given the Omaha program $50,000 each year for three years. United Way of the Midlands and the Mutual
of Omaha Foundation each will give an additional $25,000 for three years.
Walker credits counselors and God for her success. Her mo-tivation comes from a desire to defy the odds.
Working to bring financial stability, good health and self-sufficiency to Omaha, NE and
Council Bluffs, IA residents facing poverty.
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“I neverthought that I would have my
own house!”
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Revenue Government Grants $450,000
United Way $499,000
Grants- Foundations ( Non Corporate) $329,000
Grants/Contributions- Individual Corporate $83,000
Contracts $666,000
Rental Income ( Lake Point Center) $155,500
Miscellaneous $1,000
Direct Assistance Income $250,000
Total Income: $2,434,750
EXPENSESSalaries, Taxes & Benefits $1,759,200
Professional Services & Fees $41,000
Travel/Conference/Staff Development $60,500
Rental & Maintenance Equipment $17,150
Supplies $23,900
Printing/Copying/ Advertising $18,500
Telephone $24,200
Postage $3,450
Occupancy & Utilities $124,400
Insurance $44,600
Miscellaneous $4,000
Direct Assistance Used $250,000
Depreciation $63,000
Total Expenses: $2,371,750
2014 FINANCIALstatements
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OUR supporters
AAA BankingACLU NebraskaAlec GorynskiAmerican National BankAmy LawrensonAndrew & Virginia PowellAnn Marie KudlaczAnne AtteaAntonio CuldernArbor BankBank of the WestBarry & Deborah DancerBarry & Mary GerkenBill WegeBrandon JohnsenBrian SchumacherCarol DorseyCarol RussellCatherine MahernCecelia CreightonCharlie Graham Body & Paint CoCheryl J MixChristen BlackledgeChristy SnyderCity of Council BluffsCity of OmahaCompletely KidsContractor Development Services IncCorey DickmeyerCorporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)Cynthia TiedemanDale BarrDan K. GomezDaniel & Rhonda UherDaniel FischerDanielle CroughDanielle HillDanita TurnerDavid & Rhonda HeinemanDavid LevyDavid PantosDavis Companies Deborah KeatingDepartment of Housing & Urban Development Disabled American VeteransDonna LenzDowntown Omaha Inc.Earl RedrickEd FicenecElliott BassettEmily HeyenFirst National BankFrank HayesFred ConleyGoldman Sachs & CoGwenette MurrellHolli TinglehoffHoly Name Housing CorporationIowa Civil Rights CommissionIvan & Mary Lou Meyers
James C. Semerad FoundationJay & Linda TwomeyJeffrey BakewellJeffrey WagnerJeremy ChristensonJermaine Hickey Jill FennerJill JonesJoanie Wilder-MurrayJoe DarrowJoe GarciaJohn & Dianne Scott John BooneJohn HartigenJoseph & Paula GarciaJoseph HiggsJoseph SullivanJudith DierkhisingJudy RhoadsKacie AnkenbauerKarl KehmKJ Property Management, LLCLake Candlewood ApartmentsLeslie SeymoreLiliana ShannonLincoln Commission on Human Rights Lincoln Financial Foundation Linda MarchelloLogan ForsytheLozier FoundationMarc BowmanMaria AdradaMaria LundinMary Ann LamannaMatthew LawverMelissa GastonMetro Omaha Tobacco Action CoalitionMichael & Connie MatejkaMichael & Kristin LyonMichael CarrollMichael RobinsonMichael WilsonMichele NathanielsMichelle Hadley McGheeMike MatejkaMutual Insurance FoundationNaomi ChambersNebraska Children & Families FoundationNebraska Housing Developers AssociationNeil VacekNicholas ZwiebelNP Dodge Nustyle Development CorporationOmaha Area Board of RealtorsOmaha Community FoundationOmaha Public SchoolsOut Front Properties IncP J Morgan Investments IncPatricia Rocha
Patrick James O’MalleyPaul & Marjorie HartnettPaul FarrandPeggy HunterPeggy MahoneyRandlph & Nancy LivingstonRay & Pam ClarkRaymond AranzaRhonda HeinemanRichard & Barbara PlottRichdale Management Inc.Robert & Bertha DavisRobert & Hancock CompanyRobert & Norita MattRobert BroomRoberta Behm StanderRobin & Raymond FredericksRoeberto PerezRoger & Catherine CarrollRonald & Roselyn VolkmerRonette SteffesRotella’s Bakery Sam WalkerSamuel & Roberta PintoSamuel WalkerSandra MontgomeryScott & Jodi MooreSeldin CompanySelect AutoShannon SnowSherwood FoundationSiemer Institute for Family StabilitySioux City Human Rights CommissionSisters of Charity Sokolof FoundationSouthern Sudan Community AssociationState of Nebraska Stephen Center IncSusan BaumertSusan CostanzoSusan KoenigTara MuirTD AmeritradeTeresa Coleman HunterThomas & Sarah CalhounTim Butz & Barbara JessingTimothy JohansenToni KelseyTracey RuckerTrung TranUnion Pacific CompanyUnited Way of the MidlandsUS Bank Vicki Quaites-FerrisWeitz FoundationWells Fargo FoundationWestern Manor LPWilliam & Ruth Scott Foundation William R Wege
Family Housing Advisory Services, Inc. | 2401 Lake Street | Omaha, NE 68111Phone: (402) 934-7921 | Fax: (402) 934-7928 | www.fhasinc.org