ORIGINAL CASE STUDY / ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
COMMUNITY HOUSING OF MAINE
Working as a grassroots advocacy organization, CHOM provides high quality homes on a rental basis for the community's most vulnerable- the aged, the disabled and the homeless.
The Community Housing of Maine (CHOM) makes the cut for sheer quality of work. A small 10 member organization located in Portland, Maine (United States), CHOM accrues value for entire communities in its tireless pursuit of seamless integration of a community's most vulnerable through high quality housing.
From using the urban footprint to working with local governments, from restoring historic buildings to creating 'smart' homes CHOM is known to innovate with very limited resources.
To CHOM, a house is the beginning, a key step in getting one's life back on track. This they believe is the trigger to finding jobs, getting treatment required, and in general raising their standard of living and a community's wellness levels. They stay neutral, are open to collaborate with everyone from governments to hospitals and believe in the power of collective value.
As Executive Director Cullen Ryan puts it, ' CHOM can be replicated across the country and beyond. Collaboration is most efficient and it works'.
High quality products / service
Homelessness
Seamless integration of the vulnerable into mainstream society
Nonprofit
Grassroots Advocacy
Use of urban/rural geography
Design as a central element
Of Interest to
organizational analysis
An in-depth understanding of how CHOM works is key to understanding its success. We conduct an organizational analysis, not in the traditional sense where it is done internally to determine status and inform future decisions, (see Glossary for further explanation). Here we focus on what the driving factors are for CHOM as an organization that has made it stand out as a leader in housing for the vulnerable.
This, as with everything else on Quiet Value, is qualitative in nature and is the result of several communication, on-site visits and document analysis.
For those wanting to work in the field of homelessness, finding innovative means to sustain, scale and create positive impact is a constant challenge.
A thorough analysis into what some of CHOM's driving factors are yielded four main areas: Staying focused on core competency (aka. housing), grassroots advocacy, making research-driven decisions and ….shrewd hiring!!
CHOM's operational style is a combination of carefully thought out decisions and calculated risks, a model they have honed over the years. They stick to their core competency (housing), whether it is negotiating for public transportation near their properties or advocating for housing rights at the grassroots level.
Some of the things they do - spending time on hiring decisions or staying neutral and arguing for collective value are very difficult things to implement in reality, especially when ones' own resources are cripplingly low. CHOM however believes that time spent upfront in better hiring decisions saves time later on, so that senior management do not need to oversee every single decision taken by employees.
Based on their own vision-mission, past experiences and research on the issue, CHOM has opted to do things differently and it has paid off for them thus far. Therein lies the biggest lesson for those aspiring to work in the field of homelessness and social innovation in general- taking difficult decisions and then following through long enough to see the impact. (This is also a pointer for stakeholders, who can use their resources at appropriate times in the process continuum, to support innovations so as to maximize benefit)
For full details and interactive graphic experience, please view this on your favorite browser on a desktop/laptop/tablet.
The graphic below indicates key factors, (including risks it has taken) that has made CHOM the success it is today.
Hover over each of the key indicators (in color buttons) to read more.
CORE COMPETENCY: CHOM sees housing as the first step in reintegration into mainstream society. They believe (backed by studies, both published and in-house) a residential address leads to mental stability, responsibility, raises standards of living instantly, aiding the search for employment and essentially sets of a chain reaction. They dedicate bulk of their work in providing 'homes' for their clients. They are involved in restoration and new build of residential units, high quality units in good locations. They work with architects and local councils to ensure this.
DESIGN; CHOM focuses on both the design of the residential units as well as where it sits within a community as two important factors in its mission of seamless integration. They pay great attention to ensure the buildings are in good locations, with mixed neighborhoods and within walking distance to public transportation and / or other amenities.
They ensure residents have a connectivity /network path to areas where they may potentially work, buy groceries etc.
UNDERSTANDING TARGET AUDIENCE: CHOM exhibits a thorough understanding f the target audience it works with. They understand the various implications of being low-income & vulnerable. Public transportation proximity, closeness to city-centers, decent neighborhoods, energy efficient buildings (to keep utility costs low) are but some innovative ideas CHOM properties exhibit. All of this has made CHOM highly respected, further opening possibilities for collaborations and other funding opportunities.
RELIABLE RESOURCE: CHOM has carefully cultivated the reputation of being reliable information providers ‘If we get a call from a state or national senator, we know we have to give out information as accurately as possible. We spend time reading up on policies, projects, taxation and other issues, and over time, people who contact us also know that the information coming from CHOM is reliable’ says Rand.
ARBITRATORS: Owing to their advocacy, CHOM is also called to arbitrate on issues pertaining to homelessness and housing the vulnerable; they get invited to sit on boards and contribute to op-ed columns and conferences. The positive fallout being that it has raised CHOM's profile as an organization, making it a recognizable (social) brand.
This has also led to an increase in goodwill, opening doors for partnerships and collaborations
ADVOCACY A founding principle for CHOM is grassroots advocacy- for housing, policy AND funding. Ryan often uses the term "umbrella of common allies".
It focuses on advocating the importance of housing the vulnerable, from every aspect.
It does not take sides or push for CHOM's benefit alone.
Employees have a high degree of decision making powers on their projects
There is neither handholding nor second guessing by leadership.
UNIQUE METRICS: Showing efficacy is extremely important yet measurement metrics rarely capture the true value of work done.
In addition to standard cost-effectiveness studies,
CHOM has devised its own unique measurement metrics to evaluate effectiveness.
•Neighbor complaints (of residents)
•Formal eviction rates
•Calls to emergency services and
•even how often CHOM is in the news as metrics to evaluate how they are doing.
CHOM puts in a lot of effort into hiring, so that once inducted, the team members can start their role without a lot of handholding. And this kind of hiring takes time.
•People at CHOM are chosen for their in-depth knowledge in housing issues (be it marketing, strategy, finance etc.) as well as state, region and nationwide policies that might affect their work.
•Interviews are more like lengthy discussions with the emphasis more on their knowledge of the field rather than the job description alone.
•People with experience at local agencies are a particular asset.
•Even summer interns are carefully chosen based on their common interests in housing issues
FLEXIBILITY Employees have a great degree of flexibility on their movements and work schedules, another aspect leadership lays strong emphasis on.
This is both to attract and retain talented staff as well as to allow members to de-compress given the critical nature of work they do
Given that they work with society's most vulnerable and they work with very meagre resources, with grants and government funding ever shrinking, CHOM stays small to ensure proper resource allocation, stay focused and no compromise on quality.
Finding personnel who are not only adept at their role but also passionate about the idea of eradicating homelessness is hard to come by and CHOM's decision to extend full resources to a small team has paid off so far.
RESEARCH DRIVEN: Most of CHOM's strategic decisions are research driven- published or those commissioned in-house.
CHOM invests in in-house research. For several years now, interns and other researchers are encouraged to conduct research to examine the impact of CHOM on the community, as well as permanent housing for the homeless.
TWO IMPORTANT TAKEAWAYS
These are two key factors- the first an aim and the second, a decision that makes CHOM an innovative organization rather than a traditional nonprofit.
SEAMLESS INTEGRATION
CHOM sees housing as the first step toward bettering human lives.
CHOM's ultimate aim is seamless integration of the homeless and the low-income vulnerable subset (who are their clients) to integrate seamlessly into mainstream society.
Every decision and strategy, from advocacy to high quality buildings is part of this strategy.
Their strategies include:
- Locating homes in neighborhoods with 'regular' people,
- Locating homes in places that have good connectivity to places where they may find jobs (through location and public transportation,
- Locating units that have proximity to medical care and counseling centers in some cases
- Smart homes that use less electricity etc. in order to keep utility bills down.
These are a result of careful thinking and strategizing, most of which (unfortunately) is not visible.
CHOM's properties are always on well lit streets and good neighborhoods, keeping in line with their 'seamless integration' philosophy.
Image courtesy: CHOM
When it comes to socially innovative interventions, not every decision is 'visible'. As innovators this is very hard to take into stride, where interventions take time, sometimes years to bear fruit. This can have immediate impact on funding and other resource allocation.
Being research-driven with a team of people who know the nuances of the industry very well, CHOM has taken tough decisions for the greater good.
These are some tough decisions that social innovators have to take- weighing their own immediate benefit over collective gain.
COLLECTIVE GAIN v IMMEDIATE BENEFIT
CHOM stays neutral and argues for collective benefit. They focus on the entire issue of homelessness not just providing a home.
This is an extremely difficult decision to take, but CHOM's firm belief that arguing on behalf of the entire segment addressing homelessness (rather than just for CHOM) will benefit more and increase wellness levels at the community level has had its ups and downs.
On the upside, it benefits all, it has made CHOM a highly respected member in the industry, opening doors for collaborations and more.
On the downside, it comes at the cost of its own immediate gain. As Exec. Director Cullen Ryan put it, ' anyone can pick up the ball and go further, but no one does'.
This has been one of CHOM's aims for the future- to balance its own immediate interests with long term gain.
Hover over amber button
IMPACT
Operational without interruption since 1995
Manages approximately 74 properties [each with several units within, close to 1,000 in all].
Some are directly managed by CHOM while some have property management companies; CHOM however has the final say in all its properties.
Image courtesy: CHOM
acknowledging...
Vickey Rand
Communications Director, CHOM.
Over several discussions, emails & on-site visits Rand and Cullen Ryan (Exec. Director) have been involved & working with Quiet Value actively over this project.
The data gathered from them, in addition to photographs, on-site observation and documents have made this organizational analyses a possibility.
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CHOM can be reached at http://www.chomhousing.org/
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