Agency for New Americans (ANA) helps refugees in Idaho achieve self-sufficiency in their new lives by providing the skills, education, and support necessary during their resettlement period.
Avenues for Hope 2024 Campaign
In August 2024, the Havugimana family was able to move into their permanent home!
The Havugimana family arrived in Boise in March of this year. They are a family of 9 from Rwanda who had finally arrived at their destination after a long flight. Our welcoming team of case managers and their relatives arrived to welcome the family. The family was able to stay with their US tie for a short period of time before being moved to a hotel for temporary housing until we could find a home for them. Due to the large size of the family, they had to be split up into 3-4 bedrooms at the hotel. As you can imagine, this was hard for the family. The Havugimana family had hope, and our housing specialists were able to find them a home in August 2024. They spent an approximate time of five months waiting in temporary housing. This is longer than most because of the size of their family and the lack of affordable housing in the area.
Of all the numerous challenges our Agency has faced, there has been one clear and consistent barrier that grows more and more difficult to overcome: housing. There is very limited availability of both low-income housing and housing vouchers in the Boise area, and in the greater Treasure Valley. A majority of waitlists for housing are currently upward of one year or are simply closed due to excessive wait times. As a result, it becomes less expensive for ANA, and our clients, to move into properties at market rate rather than spending that wait time in a hotel.
The move-in costs (application fees, pro-rated and first month's rent, deposit, and occasionally last month's rent) are often not able to be fully covered by the Resettlement and Placement funds provided to new Americans by the government; the remainder comes from donations from community members like you. Some property managers will charge our clients higher deposits than more established residents due to their lack of credit and rental history, and ANA takes on the cost.
Donating to our Avenues for Hope campaign will provide our clients with secure housing as they continue to make a home in Idaho. In addition to donating, there are other ways you can support ANA.
Of all the numerous challenges our Agency has faced, there has been one clear and consistent barrier that grows more and more difficult to overcome: housing. There is very limited availability of both low-income housing and housing vouchers in the Boise area, and in the greater Treasure Valley. A majority of waitlists for housing are currently upward of one year or are simply closed due to excessive wait times. As a result, it becomes less expensive for ANA, and our clients, to move into properties at market rate rather than spending that wait time in a hotel.
The move-in costs (application fees, pro-rated and first month's rent, deposit, and occasionally last month's rent) are often not able to be fully covered by the Resettlement and Placement funds provided to new Americans by the government; the remainder comes from donations from community members like you. Some property managers will charge our clients higher deposits than more established residents due to their lack of credit and rental history, and ANA takes on the cost.
Donating to our Avenues for Hope campaign will provide our clients with secure housing as they continue to make a home in Idaho. In addition to donating, there are other ways you can support ANA.
