BOISE — The housing crisis in the Treasure Valley is making it hard for some families to make their rent.
Ali Rabe, executive director of Jesse Tree Idaho says the organization has existed in the Treasure Valley for 20 years, but they recently started a hot line to help respond to the need for eviction prevention services.
"Cost of rent's increasing at the same time wages are remaining the same and so more and more families are living paycheck to paycheck, so when you're living paycheck to paycheck, it's really difficult to pay rent each month," said Rabe.
Rabe says while they do have income limits, they serve people who are being evicted and are lower income.
"A lot of people think that if they get an eviction notice on their door that they immediately have to leave, but that's not necessarily true. There is a whole legal process that goes along with it and we just give information about that process,"said Rabe.
She says the organization helps if an unexpected expense comes up such as a healthcare crisis, car breakdown, a wage cut, or loss of job. She says they only serve people who can prove that they will be self sufficient within the next thirty days. Robe says they get various federal funding streams, community support, and donations.
Jesse Tree is partnering with the North End Neighborhood Association to create an annual pool of funds which will be administered by Jesse Tree to North End residents.
"We know that people can't afford to move here, but we weren't aware that so many people were falling in to homeless and that a good number of those were coming from our neighborhood," said Mark Baltes, president, North End Neighborhood Association.
Baltes says he hopes this program will fund at least one household per month here in the North End."
"We can't save the whole city, but we can certainly by lending support to our neighbors we just, now we free up resources," said Baltes.
They still work with people who have higher income if they need help with budgeting and financial literacy. The hot-line is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers man the crisis line, so if you are interested in volunteering head to our website.
For more information, head to Jessetreeidaho.org
