How the Housing Issue Is Uniting Nonprofits
- May 4
- 2 min read
Here’s something we’ve learned: If we’re serious about providing safe, affordable housing in NC, then nonprofits must work together–because the problem is bigger than any one organization can solve on its own.
So, at Refuge Homes, we decided to bring nonprofits together by using North Carolina’s housing issue as the starting point.
What follows is another example of how our impact investors are allowing us to positively impact communities throughout NC.
Where Collaboration Breaks Down
There’s a collaboration challenge most nonprofits don’t talk about. Collaboration doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should, as everyone is so caught up in pursuing their own goals that working together becomes a “some day” goal.
And while these organizations’ leaders may know each other, since many aren’t working together, efforts to address a shared problem remain scattered.
Addressing the Shared Problem
We recently addressed this collaboration problem by meeting with six nonprofits (which included a church), all of which serve former foster youth.
But while they serve many of the same people in different ways, the conversation centered on one key issue: Providing stable, safe housing.
For most of the organizations in the room, housing was already part of the problem. Some provide it directly. Others don’t, but still feel the impact of not having it. Either way, it kept coming up throughout the conversation.
A Successful Meeting
In the end, everyone in that meeting decided to focus more on the problem than on their individual organizations.
Throughout our meeting, the conversation moved away from individual efforts and toward the problem itself, and housing became less about a single initiative and more about a shared responsibility.
And we’re meeting again. It’s the beginning of what we hope will be an ongoing, collaborative working group.
We’re encouraged by the result of this meeting, and we’re excited to see where this leads.
However, none of this would have happened without the support of our impact investors, who allow us to continue to do what we do.
Partner with Us
When you invest with Refuge Homes, you’re not only helping create housing where life-change is possible and supporting a model built for long-term sustainability, you’re also helping unite local nonprofits through a common cause.
To be part of what we’re doing, we invite you to partner with us as an impact investor.
Your investment helps unite local nonprofits in creating housing for vulnerable populations, while also supporting a model built for long-term sustainability.
