Giving Compass' Take:

• Here is an example of an education and housing partnership that helps to advance mobility by going beyond traditional education intervention strategies.  

• What other types of partnerships can help address mobility and increase access to opportunities? 

• Learn more about cross sector partnerships that are improving education outcomes. 

As the StriveTogether Cradle to Career Network focuses increasingly on systems transformation to advance racial and ethnic equity, housing has been identified by early Proof Point communities as a key adjacent sector needed to accelerate that work. As early as 2018, we heard from network members that building housing partnerships was becoming a priority, particularly for partnerships focused on closing racial disparity gaps in cradle-to-career outcomes. Whereas aggregate educational outcomes can be improved through traditional education interventions alone, there is growing recognition amongst the Network that closing racial disparity gaps in those outcomes requires partnership with adjacent sectors. From that recognition came StriveTogether’s partnership with Enterprise Community Partners, a national housing and community development intermediary.

Over the last 18 months, we have built a national partnership centered on:

1) Offering targeted technical assistance to partners that answers their basic questions about housing, builds understanding of the housing landscapes in their communities, and helps launch new and expanded housing and education cross-sector collaborations for economic mobility;

2) Sharing learnings and tools with the housing and education sectors; and

3) Translating the learnings into policy development and advocacy to bring about lasting systemic change for which the current moment presents a unique opportunity.

Now more than ever, place-based partnerships need support to secure the economic stability, resilience and upward mobility of residents in the communities where they live and work. The coronavirus health and economic crisis, which is disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous and Latinx communities, is highlighting both the critical importance of and the critical need for more stable, quality and connected housing for kids and their families to thrive. Coordinated approaches to housing and education (among other sectors) to meet those needs is essential for advancing an equitable response to and recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Read the full article about housing and education partnerships by Colin Groth at StriveTogether.