Shelters to shipping containers: Idaho nonprofits work to meet housing needs

Over the past eight years, the Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge has helped raise more than $3 million for almost 70 Idaho nonprofits that provide safe, stable, and affordable housing for Idahoans.

The three-week campaign, which takes place every December, has become the single-largest fundraiser for many Idaho housing nonprofits. The 2018 campaign was another record-breaking year, with more than 2,600 donors contributing $600,000. Another $275,000 was awarded in prizes and matching funds donated by 40 campaign sponsors, bringing the 2018 campaign total to $875,000.

The money generated through Avenues for Hope helps nonprofits meet housing needs for thousands across the state. Here are some of the lives Avenues for Hope and its partners have touched.

Shipping containers, a unique solution for affordable housing

LEAP Charities, a Boise nonprofit, delivered a unique solution to affordable housing when it built environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient and affordable homes out of shipping containers.

Homelessness to housed: A couple on the brink of homelessness gives back

Autumn and Eric will be the first to tell you that without Sojourners’ Alliance they would either be in prison or dead. The Moscow nonprofit’s transitional housing program got them out of jail and off the street. The two now work at Sojourners’ and live in a nearby apartment.

Moscow nonprofit is a safety net for families experiencing homelessness

Avenues for Hope accounts for more than half the operating budget for Family Promise of the Palouse, a nonprofit that provides immediate shelter to homeless families. “I don’t know what we would do without it,” Executive Director Katti Carlson said.