Howard County Announces Family Home Start Program to Aid Students

On February 8th’24, Calvin Ballm, Howard Country Executive, inaugurated the Family Home Start Program, which proves to be a great rental assistance program. This scheme is primarily designed to assist students from Howard Community College. It will make easier for students to book student housing near the university. This is a type of financial assistance for rent to help students out of homelessness by providing student housing assistance along with creating a substantial pathway for families. This will include a guarantee on security deposit, rental subsidy for the initial month, housing search resources, and case management support. This initiative is taken in collaboration with Bridges to Housing Stability.

Calvin Ball reflected on prior efforts, citing the launch of the comprehensive Housing Opportunities Meant for Everyone (HOME) package last fall, designed to address housing affordability in Howard County. This student housing assistance ensures the stability of young residents and prompts them to attend their classes and university without being concerned about their housing and stability. By offering the students and families the needed housing resources, this student housing assistance program aims to provide students with the certainty and security of a promising academic future.

The Family Home Program is funded with $1 million, which is directly derived from the HOME package overseen by Howard County’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). Bridges will execute the initiative for Housing Stability in partnership with DHCD and the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS).

This housing assistance program also highlights the preponderance of homelessness as an issue in the student community. In 2022, around 500 families and students were identified for this program based on their housing status. William J. Barnes, HCPSS Acting Superintendent, has appreciated this collaborative effort taken to highlight and resolve the student housing issues and help the students do well in their respective fields. 

The Executive Director of Bridges to Housing Stability, Joe Broderick, has resonated with this sentiment and has underscored this student housing assistance program’s potential to transform the housing scenario in the region. Joe has also extended her gratitude towards the County Executive, Ball, for his ultimate commitment to tackling the homeless people and how he has expressed his trust in the Bridges in this critical situation. In total, this rental assistance program will be of huge benefit to students looking for stability when it comes to living in the ongoing student housing crisis across the globe. For more information on the student housing crisis, follow AmberNews!