Community Corner
APARTMENTS.COM DONATES $10,000 TO THE LITERACY LAB IN WASHINGTON DC, TO HELP COMBAT HOMELESSNESS THROUGH FIRST ANNUAL HELP FOR HOMELESS GRANT PROGRAM
CHICAGO (December 19, 2013) — Apartments.com launched its inaugural Help for Homeless Grant Program by inviting not-for-profit homeless service providers from across the country to apply for grants totaling more than $100,000. Nearly 500 organizations that tirelessly work to combat homelessness applied for grants to support programmatic or operational expenses directly benefitting the homeless population. Today, Apartments.com announces the homeless service organizations that will each receive grants for the important work they do in their local communities.
The Literacy Lab, based in Washington DC, received a $10,000 grant to provide 150 children and their families with a literacy-rich environment over the course of a school year by supporting the Ready to Read program for children up to age 5, and their families, who reside at the DC General Family Homeless Shelter. The mission of the Literacy Lab, which serves 1,000 low-income children annually, is to break the cycle of poverty by providing homeless children with early exposure to literacy and direct instruction in reading in order to improve their academic outcomes and increase their opportunities in life.
“Having a place to live is a basic human need, and so closely tied to the core nature of our business. That is why throughout the years we have chosen to support organizations that work to help the homeless,” says Dick Burke, president of Apartments.com. “Apartments.com is thrilled to expand our efforts this year by providing grants to 16 organizations that serve a distinct segment of the homeless population through innovative programming and services in local communities. We were pleased by the tremendous response we received from hundreds of top-notch organizations who applied for funding through our inaugural grant program. It was wonderful to see the depth and breadth of work being done in cities across the country that benefits this vital cause.”
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There is an overwhelming need for the more than 3 million people in the U.S. who experience homelessness each year. While Apartments.com realizes that the contributions made through their Help for Homeless Grant Program will not bring an end to homelessness, it is their hope to help change a few more lives one step at a time. To that end, the 16 charitable organizations that will receive funding from the inaugural Apartments.com Help for Homeless Grant Program include:
The Literacy Lab (Washington DC) – $10,000 Grant
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ALIVE! (Alexandria, VA) – $10,000 Grant
Connections for the Homeless (Evanston, IL) – $10,000 Grant
JOIN (Portland, OR) – $10,000 Grant
Mobile Loaves and Fishes (Austin, TX) – $10,000 Grant
Bethesda Cares (Bethesda, MD) – $5,000 Grant
Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (Chicago, IL) – $5,000 Grant
Homeward Bound (Marin County, CA) – $5,000 Grant
Macomb Emergency Shelter (Macomb, MI) – $5,000 Grant
Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance (Boston, MA) – $5,000 Grant
New Orleans Women's Shelter (New Orleans, LA) – $5,000 Grant
NYC Rescue Mission (New York, NY) – $5,000 Grant
People Serving People (Minneapolis, MN) – $5,000 Grant
Social Advocates for Youth (Santa Rosa, CA) - $5,000 Grant
Upward Bound House (Santa Monica, CA) – $5,000 Grant
Vogel Alcove (Dallas, TX) – $1,000 Grant
“Apartments.com appreciates and has the utmost respect for the hundreds of organizations that applied for funding through the inaugural Help for Homeless Grant Program,” adds Susan Bryant, vice president of marketing and media sales for Apartments.com. “The need for services and support continues to grow, especially given the current economy, and so we encourage not-for-profit homeless service providers to apply for grants in 2014.”
The second annual Help for Homeless Grant Program will begin accepting applications in summer 2014 at www.apartments.com/grants.
About Apartments.com
Apartments.com (http://www.apartments.com) is a leading national apartment Internet listing subscription service with more than 50,000 unique addresses representing millions of rental units from managed properties, newspaper classifieds and for-rent-by-owner properties. By incorporating the most relevant products to reach renters including personalized searches and highly visual ads featuring live chat, real-time rent, online video walk-through demonstrations, professional photography, a mobile website and iPhone and Android apps, Apartments.com creates easy access to its listings. Providing unmatched exposure to its advertisers through an intuitive name, strategic search engine placements and featured partnerships and more than 120 newspaper websites and innovative emerging media, Apartments.com reaches millions of renters nationwide, driving both qualified traffic and highly-engaged renters to leasing offices nationwide. Apartments.com is a division of Chicago-based Classified Ventures, LLC. The Apartments.com network of apartment rental websites includes Apartment Home Living (http://www.apartmenthomeliving.com), a leading social media apartment website distinguished by a "live for fun" community experience, proprietary lifestyle matching and local living guides to help renters find their perfect place to live; Rental Homes Plus (http://www.rentalhomesplus.com), an online destination where house hunters who prefer to rent can choose from a robust inventory of houses, condos, town houses, duplexes and apartments from around the country; and Rentfish (http://www.rentfish.com), a national apartment website offering customizable searches by neighborhood, favorite coffee spot, sports arena, famous landmark and more.