Beyond Walls: Working toward Lasting Change in Housing and Community Reentry

A common theme emerged early in the conversation: RS EDEN and HousingLink’s commitment to responding to their communities’ evolving needs. Particularly in the area of criminal justice, RS EDEN supports people with a range of justice system involvement, including those with criminal backgrounds that other organizations do not support. Further, we recognize that most RS EDEN program participants come to us with a history of incarceration—not just those in our reentry halfway houses. In response, we’ve made all our programs low to no barrier for people with criminal justice histories. As Caroline summed it up, “The overall aim of RS EDEN is to screen people in—not out.”

On the HousingLink side, the organization saw a similar need to remove barriers. Hearing that renters were being turned away in their affordable housing search due to factors like bad credit or eviction and criminal histories, HousingLink launched Beyond Backgrounds, a program that helps property owners rent to people with barriers in their background by providing landlords financial security through a risk assurance fund. “More than half of [renters enrolled] in Beyond Backgrounds have a criminal record of some kind,” shared Sue. “So, it’s a huge population that needs resources and support.”

Sue and Caroline also aligned around the idea that successful community reentry after incarceration is about much more than simply getting housed. As Caroline shared, “When it comes to moving from a highly structured environment to permanent supportive housing, which is more independent, that transition and adjustment can be a big challenge.” Sue spoke similarly of the hurdles for both renter and landlord when someone is getting used to less structured living after periods of incarceration. 

Both leaders spoke of filling those gaps by building in safety nets of support for program participants. HousingLink does monthly check-ins with Beyond Backgrounds tenants to ensure they have the support they need around timely rent payment, employment support, upkeep in their unit, and more. (They also connect with property owners monthly to work through any challenges they are having.)

At RS EDEN, we have added mental health services to our reentry housing (and all housing), along with peer supports and supplemental services to help people transition smoothly and build stable pathways to new beginnings after incarceration.

When the conversation turned to misconceptions, it was clear that siloed thinking and narrow judgments—both at a systems and individual level—have contributed to the barriers participants face. "We need to ensure misconceptions are replaced with more accurate and current understanding of the complex intersections of problems, individually and systemically,” said Caroline. “Only once we have a better understanding of the problems can we begin to solve them.” 

Both organizations are working to change systems and narratives. To share one example, RS EDEN participant Jennifer Brown was instrumental in advocating for the Healthy Start Act, which made Minnesota the first state to stop separating mothers in prison from their newborns. As Jennifer shared when the Act passed, “It takes people's stories and experiences to change people's lives.”

At HousingLink, Sue says Beyond Backgrounds is slowly changing long-entrenched mindsets. To date, she says, “96% of renters have completed their first year’s lease [while in the program], and there’s been just a 6% claim rate on the risk assurance fund. So the argument that these renters are a higher risk for landlords is perhaps not founded in reality. And continuing to do the work to have the data and combat those misconceptions is important.” 

This RS EDEN blog post on the interconnections of homelessness and substance use disorder is one place to start. You can also learn more about HousingLink’s Beyond Background program in their 2023 annual report.