BOISE, Idaho – Idaho Housing and Finance Association and the Home Partnership Foundation are pleased to announce that the Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge has raised more than $150,000 to date for participating Idaho nonprofits. Campaign funds will support shelters and homeless service providers working statewide to prevent homelessness and improve affordable housing options.

Community involvement in the campaign is up this year with more than $150,000 from 1,280 donors across the state. To incentivize donations and provide increased support to Idaho’s homeless service providers, an additional $68,800 in challenge prizes have been awarded to 15 nonprofits so far.

The goal for the sixth annual Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge is $400,000, with the online fundraiser concluding at midnight December 31. Donations of $25 or more can be made at www.avenuesforhope.org.

“The public response has been tremendous this far with donations double what they were at this time in 2015. Even so, the need is great during the colder winter months with more than 4,000 Idahoans experiencing homelessness last year,” said Gerald M. Hunter, President of Idaho Housing. “I hope people will continue to come together, in the spirit of the holidays, and support these nonprofits who work tirelessly to restore the hope of individuals and families within our community.”

Donors can direct gifts to any of the 44 participating nonprofits, according to location, types of services, or other criteria. The more donations a nonprofit receives, the more matching funds and grant prizes it is eligible to win. If you don’t have a specific nonprofit to support, gifts can be made to the “Home Partnership Foundation – Shared Gift Pool” which will be divided up among participating nonprofits. Real-time campaign progress can be viewed online at: www.avenuesforhope.org/#leaderboard

The Home Partnership Foundation along with Idaho Housing and 29 other businesses sponsoring the campaign are contributing up to $200,000 to support the matching funds and challenge grant prizes. $68,800 of this match fund has been awarded so far including:

Benefactor Bonuses of $5,000 each were awarded to 13 nonprofits as matching prizes for receiving a single donation of $5,000 or more. Awardees thus far include CATCH, Inc.; Corpus Christi House, Inc.; Family Promise of North Idaho; Family Promise of the Palouse; First Story; Good Samaritan Home; Idaho Falls Rescue Mission; Idaho Youth Ranch; NeighborWorks Boise; NeighborWorks Pocatello; Sojourners’ Alliance; Union Gospel Mission; and The Women’s Center, Inc.

Early Bird prizes of $500 each were awarded to six nonprofits that were the first participants to receive 20 donations. These prizes went to CATCH, Inc.; Corpus Christi House, Inc.; Good Samaritan Home; The Jesse Tree of Idaho; NeighborWorks Pocatello; and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of SW Idaho.

Random Daily Drawings of $100 each are awarded each campaign weekday and announced on Twitter @avenuesforhope. Winners so far include CATCH, Inc.; Corpus Christi House, Inc.; Family Promise of the Palouse; Good Samaritan Home; The Jesse Tree of Idaho; NeighborWorks Pocatello; Sojourners’ Alliance; and Union Gospel Mission.

Thousands of dollars in grant prizes and matching funds remain available and can be won by nonprofit participants through the end of the campaign. A list of all campaign prizes is provided on the Avenues for Hope website at: www.avenuesforhope.org/#prizes.

Campaign dates: December 8 at 8 a.m. through 12 midnight on December 31, 2016
Donations accepted: http://www.avenuesforhope.org
Campaign video: https://youtu.be/dcJV5amI1js
Social media hashtag: #IdahoHomeless
Campaign logos/graphics available for download: https://avenuesforhope.org/#npo-resources
Results announced: Early January 2017

44 Nonprofit Organizations participating in the Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge

NORTH IDAHO
Affordable Housing Foundation, Inc.	Family Promise of the Palouse	Sojourners’ Alliance
Bonner County Homeless Task Force	Lewiston-Clarkston Partners Habitat for Humanity	St Vincent de Paul North Idaho
Family Promise of Lewis Clark Valley	Moscow Affordable Housing Trust, Inc.	The Women’s Center, Inc.
Family Promise of North Idaho	The Salvation Army	Union Gospel Mission Association of Spokane
SOUTHEAST IDAHO
Aid For Friends, Inc.	Idaho Falls Rescue Mission	Pocatello Habitat for Humanity
Blaine County Housing Authority	Lemhi County Crisis Intervention / The Mahoney House	South Central Community Action Partnership
CLUB, Inc.	Mini-Cassia Shelter	Southeastern Idaho Community Action Agency
Family Services Alliance	NeighborWorks Pocatello	Volunteers Against Violence
SOUTHWEST IDAHO
Advocates Against Family Violence	First Story	The Jesse Tree of Idaho
Boise Housing First	Good Samaritan Home	NeighborWorks Boise
Boise Valley Habitat for Humanity	Home Partnership Foundation	The Salvation Army
CATCH, Inc.	Hope House, Inc.	Shepherd’s Home, Inc.
The Community Builder	Idaho Youth Ranch, Inc.	Society of St. Vincent de Paul of SW Idaho
Concordia University School of Law	Interfaith Sanctuary Shelter	Women’s & Children’s Alliance
Corpus Christi House, Inc.	International Rescue Committee

About the Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge
The Avenues for Hope Housing Challenge is designed to rally support for 44 participating nonprofits who manage the day-to-day work of serving more than 4,000 homeless Idahoans. 2016 is the sixth year for Avenues for Hope, which has awarded more than $970,000 to nonprofits statewide since it began in 2011.

Organized by Idaho Housing and Finance Association and its foundation, the Home Partnership Foundation, the campaign helps both the chronically and temporarily homeless, including domestic violence victims, veterans, people with disabilities, vulnerable youth, seniors, and low-income Idaho residents. Donations support emergency shelters, homelessness prevention services, and affordable housing programs throughout the state.

Avenues for Hope sponsors include Academy Mortgage, Bank of Commerce, Bank of Idaho, Bank of the Cascades, Barclays, Boise Housing Corporation, Citizens Community Bank, Eide Bailly, Evergreen Home Loans, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, First Mortgage Company, George K. Baum & Company, Guild Mortgage Company, Idaho Housing and Finance Association, Idaho Independent Bank, Idaho Potato Drop, Idaho Power, KeyBank, Mountain West Bank, New Beginnings Housing, Northwest Integrity Housing, P1FCU, The Pacific Companies, Skinner Fawcett LLP, Stifel, Thomas Development Co., Wells Fargo, and Zions Bank Corporate Trust.

About the Home Partnership Foundation
The Home Partnership Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) organization created by Idaho Housing and Finance Association 11 years ago with a mission to help people build a strong foundation for their lives through stable, safe, and affordable housing.

The foundation strengthens communities across Idaho by encouraging tax-deductible charitable gifts to support shelters and shelter services for the homeless and disadvantaged, help avoid eviction actions to stabilize households and prevent homelessness, encourage asset-building and education to achieve economic independence, build equity-sharing funds to make workforce housing attainable, and facilitate tax-advantaged land donations for affordable housing purposes.

Website: www.homepartnershipfoundation.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/HomePartnershipFoundation
Twitter: https://twitter.com/avenuesforhope

About Idaho Housing and Finance Association
Idaho Housing and Finance Association is a financial services and housing business organization. IHFA’s mission is to improve lives and strengthen Idaho communities by expanding housing opportunities, building self-sufficiency, and fostering economic development.

Website: www.idahohousing.com