HomeNewsroomPress releasesClayton® and Family Promise Redefine How Corporations Help Prevent Family Homelessness

Clayton® and Family Promise Redefine How Corporations Help Prevent Family Homelessness

August 4, 20222 min read

MARYVILLE, Tenn., August 4, 2022– Clayton, a national builder of off-site and site-built homes, and Family Promise, the nation's leading nonprofit addressing family homelessness, have expanded their partnership strategy, changing the way corporations are helping fight family homelessness.

In 2018, Clayton and Family Promise partnered to donate one off-site built home to a family facing housing insecurity. Just a few months later, the two organizations expanded the partnership significantly to establish A Future Begins at Home, an innovative prevention program that addresses the underlying causes of family homelessness and catalyzes funding from other sources to increase reach and impact. A Future Begins at Home has attracted more than $4.3 million in funding, serving more than 5,100 families facing housing insecurity, including over 11,300 children. In addition, Clayton has donated 12 homes to Family Promise Affiliates to support families facing housing insecurity.

“By partnering with corporations like Clayton, we are able to significantly increase our impact to help prevent even more families and children from experiencing the trauma of homelessness,” said Claas Ehlers, Family Promise CEO. “When we were forced to close our shelters due to the pandemic, we were able to continue to serve our communities well through innovative prevention programs made possible by Clayton and other corporate partners. In 2021, 31,034 episodes of homelessness were avoided or shortened through prevention and diversion.”

A Future Begins at Home awards grants to Family Promise Affiliates to provide case management, rental assistance, landlord mediation, transportation, childcare support and other important resources to families facing homelessness.

About Clayton

Founded in 1956, Clayton is committed to opening doors to a better life and building happyness® through homeownership. As a diverse builder committed to quality and durability, Clayton offers traditional site-built homes and off-site built housing – including modular homes, manufactured homes, CrossMod™ homes, tiny homes, college dormitories, military barracks and apartments. All Clayton Built® homes are proudly designed, engineered and assembled in America. In 2021, Clayton built 60,701 homes across the country. Clayton is a Berkshire Hathaway company. For more information, visit claytonhomes.com.

*CrossMod is a trademark of Manufactured Housing Institute.

, Family Promise also piloted innovative prevention and diversion strategies - including landlord partnerships and pandemic relief efforts - enabling these programs to gain traction and prove results before scaling up nationally.

"At Family Promise, we work to help families avoid the trauma that comes from a family losing their housing,” said Caroline Lamar, Regional Director (South), and former Executive Director of Family Promise of Blount County (TN). “Clayton understands the diverse and compounding challenges low-income families face nationwide with incredibly limited affordable housing options. Our partnership allows us to focus on preventing families from experiencing homelessness and providing them with alternatives to shelters if necessary.”

During the last two years of the pandemic, thanks to the support of Clayton, Lamar says her Affiliate was well-positioned to keep families in their existing housing or identify emergency solutions that avoid shelter. "We supported a family with four children, one who needed heart surgery, which required the parents to travel to receive care. We ensured childcare, food, and transportation to school for the other siblings. We found mom and dad a place to stay near the hospital, so they didn’t have to sleep in their car. In these kinds of situations, financially insecure families often are so overwhelmed they don't know what resources are available to them. They can lose income, and then, housing. I don't know how they would have cared for all of their kids if not for A Future Begins at Home.”

“At Clayton, we understand how companies have the power to do good and drive change and believe it is our duty to do so,” said Kevin Clayton, Clayton CEO. “Our partnership with Family Promise helps us expand our mission to develop housing innovations that improve lives and build a better tomorrow for everyone.”
In 2022, funding from Clayton aims to prevent 1,000 families and more than 2,400 children from becoming homeless through A Future Begins at Home. The company will also donate three off-site built homes to be used for transitional housing, which bridges the gap between shelter and permanent housing.