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In the US, 549,000 people are homeless on a typical night. Shelters to Shutters, is offering housing and employment to people in the US who are experiencing homelessness. The organisation helps individuals and families to transition out of homelessness by partnering with the real estate industry.

Local non-profit partners refer candidates to the programme. Shelters to Shutters then screens those candidates before referring them to property management partners around the country. The candidates are then interviewed by property management partners and placed in an available position in their local area. Throughout the transition, the Shelters to Shutters team stay involved. They also follow cases after a transition is successful to support candidates in the long-term.

The organisation currently operates in 15 cities. It has achieved an 87 percent annual employee retention rate for participants and a 93 percent success rate of participants not re-entering homeless services. Andy Helmer, CEO of Shelters to Shutters, said: “We believe that by leveraging partnerships with private sector companies and local non-profit service providers, we can make a material impact on the issue of homelessness facing this country.”

Here at Springwise, we have published many innovations that help the homeless, including a crowdfunding site that teaches homeless people new skills to get them back into work. Another example is an app that lets users donate to the homeless through cashless transactions.