Motel to Home Program
Motel to Home Program
SVdP Georgia’s Motel to Home program was created in response to a community need identified in the Norcross study: When Extended Stay Becomes Home and by the work of our volunteer caseworkers. This study documented what we have witnessed with our own eyes: extended stay motels have become the homeless shelters of the suburbs for many families for months and years on end. Even though most of them are working full-time, they often have no other alternative after an eviction because most property owners will not rent to a tenant who owes money to another property. They move in thinking it will be a temporary solution but become trapped as the high daily and weekly fees plus the local motel room taxes leaves them little money to save for paying off debt or for deposits on a new apartment.
Our Motel to Home program is a comprehensive model designed to help families move from extended-stay motels to more stable housing. We believe that safe and stable housing is the key leverage point for improving lives and achieving self-sufficiency by impacting:
- Intergenerational economic mobility
- Educational achievement
- Health and wellness
Note: SVdP Georgia does not provide housing, but our Motel to Home program can help with move-in costs, up to $2000, once housing has been found, as long as the program has funding.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Funding for Motel to Home is currently available in the state of Georgia.
Please answer the following questions to help you determine if you are eligible to be considered for financial assistance for the Motel 2 Home Program.
- Do you have enough verifiable income coming into your household to meet rent and other household expenses? (Please note that income must be verified in writing through pay stubs, letters of employment, benefits letters, etc. in order for SVDP M2H to provide financial assistance.)
- Have you been in a hotel for 30 days or more? You will need 30 days of hotel receipts to apply. These do not need to be consecutive days, but must be in the past 3 months.
- You will need to provide documentation after our initial intake. This will include IDs, social security cards, children’s birth certificates and at least 4 weeks of verifiable income, as well as the hotel receipts.
- Please note that we do not fund housing approvals that will be over 40% of your monthly income to rent. This means if your income is $3000 per month, the rent can not be more then $1200 per month (unless you have a voucher to reduce your portion). This policy is learned from our experience. We want you to succeed and be stable in your housing and we have found rent eating too much of income is not sustainable in the long term.
If you have any further questions, email us at m2h@svdpgeorgia.org.
If you answered YES to ALL of the questions, then you may qualify for help. Please click the Motel to Home Application button below to apply.
Make sure to add all of your household income when filling out. Include SSI, SSDI, wages from employment, child support. Anything that is paid to you on a regular weekly/monthly basis. Qualifying for our program is based, partly, on the income you provide on your application.
