HOUSTON—Phoenix-based Rainbow Housing Assistance Corp., a nonprofit organization that provides programs for residents of rental housing communities throughout the country, has announced the first three graduations of its Tie Me a Future program. GlobeSt.com's Anna Caplan recently caught up with Flynann Janisse, the executive director of the organization, to find out more about the program.

GlobeSt.com: What is Rainbow's Tie Me a Future program?

Flynann Janisse: Rainbow's uniquely developed Tie Me A Future program was created to serve young men ages 10 through 16 in leadership and educational development nationally. This program focuses on four Rainbow-identified key areas of young personal growth: Transforming Self Image, Guiding Personal Thought Processes, Impacting Life Choices and Leveraging Leadership Skills. Upon successful program completion, each participant and their families are invited to a special “Tie Tying Ceremony” where they recite the Tie Me A Future Pledge, receive a certificate of completion and are given a tie and cufflinks.

GlobeSt.com: How do programs like this, developed and executed by Rainbow, improve the bottom line for owners and investors? How is this decreasing resident turnover?

Janisse: Before Rainbow is inserted into any community as the service provider, we find high resident turn-over, low resident perceived value-based living, and owners that are unhappy with the overall finance performance of their asset. In working with the ownership, onsite teams, and most importantly the resident demographic, Rainbow assess the needs of the residents as well as the overall ownership goal of a stabilized asset to determine which programs can be effectively implemented while aligning with ownership budget constraints.

By offering programs such as the Youth Enrichment Program, this provides a free resource for the youth of the community to focus on their educational development and interact within their own community. This can provide a link for parents as well to become involved in their community by volunteering in the center. This is just one example of programs designed by Rainbow to assist in meeting residents' needs while offering a sense of community enrichment…Rainbow's ability to connect residents to delinquency- and utility-assistance programs also reduces evictions and turnover costs, which are generally the highest ownership costs.

GlobeSt.com: How does investing in the next generation ultimately stabilize multifamily communities? How does Rainbow do this?

Janisse: Through Rainbow's proven service model and uniquely designed programs and services, Rainbow capitalizes on our residents' innate desire for personal growth and change. Rainbow provides services designed specifically for each demographic we serve nationally, thus affording resident desire to participate in services that are unique to their families and themselves. In doing so, this offers unique services to residents that ultimately assist them in obtaining sustainable financial and educational goals within their own communities. This is when residents begin to feel a sense a community belonging and frankly do not desire to move, which impacts the positive stabilization of the communities that Rainbow provides services to and subsequently reduce various turnover expenses to the ownership offering a stabilized resident base.

GlobeSt.com: How does Rainbow's commitment to social responsibility improve the economic state of urban areas?

Janisse: In many national urban areas where Rainbow has been inserted as the service provider, Rainbow has become the catalyst for economic growth and change. By providing programs and services that assist residents in becoming employable, gain educational financial assistance and provide youth skills to become effective leaders, Rainbow begins to impact the financial landscape of the area. No longer are the youth out potentially causing damage to the neighborhood, no longer are the youth being recruited by gang members perpetuating a cycle of crime of drugs, and residents gain skills to obtain employment and provide back to their communities.

Instant Insights /

Q&A: Flynann Janisse, Rainbow Housing Assistance Corp.

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