The Flagstone Initiative News & Insights

LAHTF continues their support of Flagstone’s Rent Loans in Louisville

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 23:03:54 GMT

Flagstone is thrilled to continue our work in Louisville, Kentucky with the support of the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund! This will be LAHTF’s second contribution to the Flagstone Initiative, and we can’t wait to see the impact of our continued collaboration.

We are thankful to have support from the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund to make Rent Loans in Louisville, so we can prevent eviction for vulnerable families there. The Rent Loans provided through this grant will help renters keep their homes.

The William Josef Foundation supports Rent Loans for paycheck-to-paycheck renters in Georgia

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 21:23:10 GMT

We are excited to announce that the William Josef Foundation has committed to supporting the work Flagstone does in Georgia! Their generous contribution will go towards making Rent Loans to families that are vulnerable to eviction in the Atlanta area.

The William Josef Foundation, an organization that supports service, advocacy, and policy strategies aimed at expanding access and reducing barriers to affordable housing for individuals experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity in Georgia with a focus on Metro Atlanta. We’re grateful to begin a new partnership with the William Josef Foundation!

Zillow 4 Good contributes to Flagstone to help renters nationwide

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 21:31:31 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative is happy to share that we have received support from Zillow For Good (Z4G) , a program dedicated to making a meaningful impact through support of nonprofits focused on housing security. Z4G’s contribution will help us make Rent Loans to paycheck-to-paycheck renters across the country!

We’re thankful for the opportunity to reach more renters who need support to keep their homes. The funds contributed from Zillow will allow us to make Rent Loans across the country to families struggling to maintain financial stability.

Thank you, Gregor Watson!

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 01:10:45 GMT

We write today to express our sincerest gratitude to Gregor Watson for his significant role in getting the Flagstone Initiative off the ground.

Gregor, as you rotate out of your board seat, we want to thank you for crucial contributions as a co-founder and for serving the last four years as our inaugural Chairman. You were instrumental in founding and standing up Flagstone. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.

How do we appreciate you? Let us count the ways:

You fostered innovation and helped us achieve product/market fit. You gave us access to properties where we could learn, test, and pilot different upstream prevention approaches. You also gave us the freedom to explore and iterate quickly—“Do what you want.”
You also raised the capital needed to launch the Flagstone Initiative. In addition to the generous support that you provided, you also found like-minded funders to join you. Without that initial funding, there wouldn’t have been any runway to get this thing off the ground.
Most importantly, you believed in us and in the win-win vision that upstream prevention would prevent both renters and housing providers. You publicly advocated for the idea of upstream prevention and helped put the word in the street.

We will miss you, Gregor, but we will continue to build on what we’ve created together and carry on with your vision of using scalable technology solutions to become the "biggest nonprofit ever."

Thank you, Gregor, from the entire Flagstone team!

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta helps us help ATL renters

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 20:08:11 GMT

We are pleased to announce that t he Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta has given us their support for Rent Loans in Atlanta, GA, playing a critical role in making Rent Loans available to Atlanta renters at risk of eviction, helping to keep them in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Their early leadership in supporting eviction prevention is key to our efforts in Greater Atlanta, and we deeply appreciate the support of the community.

The Gheens Foundation renews support for Kentucky renters

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 21:38:23 GMT

We are pleased to announce that The Gheens Foundation has renewed their support for Rent Loans in Louisville, KY, playing a critical role in making Rent Loans available to Louisville renters at risk of eviction, helping to keep them in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of The Gheens Foundation and other generous foundations dedicated to helping Kentucky renters. With their collective support, we have made hundreds of Rent Loans to Kentucky renters, stabilizing their finances so they can remain stably housed.

The Flagstone Initiative News, August 2025

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 23:46:52 GMT

Happy summer from your friends at Flagstone! We’ve been busy helping paycheck-to-paycheck renters stay in their homes with our no-fee, no-interest Rent Loans. We’re growing fast:

We now reach 6,500 households, on pace for 10,000 by year end
Over 330 loans made in 2025 so far, already more than double all of 2024
We’re on track to make over 1,000 Rent Loans annually

In addition to making Rent Loans, we’re always looking to better understand the struggles faced by the people we serve. There’s no better way to understand those mind-boggling, heart-breaking challenges than Brian’s Goldstone’s new book, “ There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America .”

This widely-acclaimed book follows the stories of five families in Atlanta who struggle to find and maintain stable housing, despite working full-time or multiple jobs.

We’re excited to announce that Brian will be joining us to discuss his book, and you’re invited!

We’ll be chatting with Brian over Zoom on Thursday, September 4th, 7pm ET/4pm PT.

If you’d like to join us, please drop a note to hello@flagstoneinitiative.org .

Stay cool!

The Flagstone Team

Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, and Shin

p.s. If you’d like to support our work keeping paycheck-to-paycheck renters in their homes, please consider making a donation .

Community Foundation of Louisville supports Flagstone's work in Kentucky

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 02:09:48 GMT

We are excited to announce that the Community Foundation of Louisville (CFL) has made a multi-year project-related investment supporting Rent Loans in Louisville, KY. With this loan capital from CFL, we will be able to make thousands of Rent Loans to Louisville renters at risk of eviction, and help keep them in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of CFL and other generous foundations dedicated to helping Kentucky renters. With their collective support, we have made hundreds of Rent Loans to Kentucky renters, stabilizing their finances so they can remain stably housed.

Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation renews support for Alabama renters

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 16:22:52 GMT

We are proud to announce that the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation has renewed and extended their support for upstream eviction prevention in Alabama, with a multi-year grant. Their support helps enable Flagstone's no-fee, no-interest Rent Loans for renters, improving housing stability and helping people stay in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation and the many other generous foundations dedicated to helping Alabama renters. With their collective support, we have made hundreds of Rent Loans to Alabama renters, stabilizing their finances so they can remain stably housed.

Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund supports Flagstone's work in Kentucky

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 21:08:27 GMT

We are happy to share that the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund (LAHTF) has contributed to our upstream effort to improve housing stability with Rent Loans in Louisville, KY.

We are extremely grateful for the support of LAHTF and the other generous foundations dedicated to helping Kentucky renters. With their collective support, we have made hundreds of Rent Loans to Kentucky renters, stabilizing their finances so they can remain stably housed.

Housing Affordability Trust renews and increases support for Alabama renters

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 22:10:34 GMT

We are delighted to announce that the Housing Affordability Trust (HAT) has renewed their support for upstream eviction prevention in Alabama, doubling their support from last year. Their support helps enable Flagstone's no-fee, no-interest Rent Loans for renters, improving housing stability and helping people stay in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of HAT and the many other generous foundations dedicated to helping Alabama renters. With their collective support, we have made hundreds of Rent Loans to Alabama renters, stabilizing their finances so they can remain stably housed.

Flagstone at Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)'s 50th Anniversary Symposium

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:49:50 GMT

"Improve Housing Stability for Rent-Burdened Families with Rent Splitting and Rent Loans"

Earlier this month, The Flagstone Initiative's CEO and co-founder Shin Inoue was invited to present at the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)'s 50th Anniversary Symposium in New York City, as part of their " Innovative Ideas for the Future of Housing " program. Shin made a presentation entitled "Improve Housing Stability for Rent-Burdened Families with Rent Splitting and Rent Loans," an idea that resonated with the assembled housing innovators, including academics, policymakers, advocates, and community leaders.

The event featured an impressive collection of innovators working to tackle the most pressing housing challenges facing American communities, and we are honored for the opportunity to share what we've learned about the impact of upstream financial stability programs for preventing eviction.

From Shin's presentation:

Millions of American households are rent-burdened, living paycheck to paycheck with no savings, vulnerable to small financial shocks.

Upstream prevention efforts like financial stability programs can give these vulnerable renters the ability to weather life's small shocks, avoid the specter of eviction, and keep them in their homes.

These simple upstream prevention solutions are cost effective and can have a big impact on widespread challenges for rent-burdened households. Let's make it happen.

Alabama Power Foundation Continues Support for Flagstone in Alabama

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 03:53:57 GMT

The Flagstone team is pleased to announce the Alabama Power Foundation will continue its generous support of our eviction prevention programs. Their support of these programs creates lasting impact for the Alabama renters we serve.

Their contribution will help us create a sustainable fund for Rent Loans, our no-interest loan that helps residents stay current on rent through small-dollar financial shocks like car-repairs.

Thank you to the Alabama Power Foundation, we are excited to continue our work together in the coming year!

The Daniel Foundation Provides Additional Support for Alabama Renters

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 21:34:11 GMT

We are excited to share that The Daniel Foundation will continue to support The Flagstone Initiative's work to provide upstream eviction prevention solutions to Alabama renters. Our team is thankful for their dedication to helping us provide housing stability to the Missing Middle.

Their support includes a multi-year grant that will allow us to greatly expand the number of renters we can help in Alabama. We are grateful for the Daniel Foundation’s support, and look forward to growing our impact with their help.

Change is in the air

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 21:45:19 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative News

October 2024

Happy fall from your friends at Flagstone!

Fall is a time of change, but one thing that isn’t changing is that millions of paycheck-to-paycheck renters need help.

So we are changing, to help more people, more quickly.

We are now offering standalone Rent Loans.

Offering standalone Rent Loans (without Rent Splitting) means fast, easy implementation, with no changes for housing partners.

Instead of waiting until renters need large grants to avoid eviction, smaller loans can be used to improve financial stability and keep people in their homes.

The value of this type of upstream prevention continues to gain broader recognition. Just last week, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) published the first-ever Federal Homelessness Prevention Framework .

No-fee, no-interest Rent Loans can be a cost-effective successor to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP), and much less expensive than traditional grants, but they are not entirely without cost.

Will you make a $150 donation today to help a struggling family stay in their home?

Your $150 donation covers all of the costs for a Rent Loan, making them an evergreen replacement for expiring ERAP.

Thank you!

The Flagstone Team

Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, and Shin

p.s. In partnership with the Housing Solutions Lab and the NYU Furman Center, we’re working on a study understanding the impacts of greater rent payment flexibility . Exciting!

Pandemic ERAP Funds Prevented Eviction… What’s Next?

Sun, 30 Jun 2024 05:15:47 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative News

June 2024

Summer greetings from your friends at Flagstone!

While summer is often a relaxing time, it wasn’t very relaxing a few short years ago. The pandemic was taking a terrible toll, and many families faced financial crises.

In 2021, Congress passed two Emergency Rental Assistance Programs (ERAP) to help those families stay in their homes.

ERAP provided over $46 billion to protect vulnerable renters and helped to drastically reduce evictions and homelessness. But post-ERAP, underlying problems remain:

Now that ERAP is over, state and local governments are scrambling to address these challenges without extra federal funding.

In the absence of those federal dollars, we need to figure out more cost-effective prevention strategies to keep people in their homes. For example:

Include eviction prevention planning at the development stage
National Housing Trust is calling on State Housing Finance Agencies to include eviction prevention as part of their Qualified Allocation Plans (QAPs) for Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) funding— Balancing Eviction Prevention and Property Financial Health

Develop win/win eviction prevention policies
WinnCompanies has developed a Housing Stability Program that includes numerous elements throughout the lease cycle to help keep residents housed.

Local governments should provide cost-effective upstream financial stability programs in addition to downstream interventions
The United Way recently eloquently advocated for upstream prevention and rental assistance in the Seattle Times: Pandemic-era funds have expired but WA housing needs continue

Of course, we are grateful for the foundations and corporations who make our upstream eviction prevention work possible. This quarter, we received generous support from Airbnb, the Gheens Foundation, the Michael & Gillian Goodrich Foundation, the Housing Affordability Trust, and continuing support from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

If you would like to help us keep renters in their homes, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today . $100 enables us to make one Rent Loan and help a struggling household avoid falling behind on rent payments.

Thank you!

The Flagstone Team

Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, and Shin

p.s. You might also be interested in this story we wrote for LAA Access, a publication by the Louisville Apartment Association: Upstream Eviction Prevention—A Win for Everyone

Housing Affordability Trust Supports Birmingham, AL Renters

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 02:28:46 GMT

We are happy to announce that the Housing Affordability Trust (HAT) is supporting Phase 2 of our upstream eviction prevention efforts in Greater Birmingham. Their support helps enable Flagstone's no-fee, no-interest Rent Loans for renters, and helps keep people in their homes.

We are extremely grateful for the support of HAT and the many other generous foundations dedicated to helping Alabama renters. With their collective support, we are expanding our financial stability programs to cover over 2,500 low- to moderate-income renter households in Greater Birmingham.

Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Provides Additional Support for Birmingham Renters

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 02:03:14 GMT

We are honored to share that the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham continues to support The Flagstone Initiative's work to improve financial stability for renters in the region around Birmingham, Alabama, and prevent eviction upstream.

Their support for Phase 2 of our work will help us grow in the Birmingham region to offer Rent Splitting and Rent Loans to 2,500 households, preventing eviction upstream and preventing people from falling into the persistent poverty trap.

We are grateful for their ongoing support, and the opportunity to help even more Birmingham-area renters stay in their homes.

The Gheens Foundation Supports Upstream Eviction Prevention in Louisville, KY

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 23:54:33 GMT

We are pleased to announce that The Gheens Foundation is supporting Phase 2 of our upstream eviction prevention efforts in Louisville, KY.

The Gheens Foundation has a long history of improving the quality of life for the residents of Metropolitan Louisville, and their partnership will help us expand to improve financial stability for 2,500 lower-income "Missing Middle" households in Louisville with Rent Splitting and Rent Loans.

We are grateful for their support for our upstream prevention approach, a strong complement to Louisville’s leadership in delivering relief downstream. We’re excited to be part of the broader strategy to support renters.

Together, we can demonstrate how to effectively address the challenges of eviction and homelessness in the post-pandemic environment.

Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation Supports Upstream Eviction Prevention in Birmingham, AL

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:09:52 GMT

We are delighted to announce support from the Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation for phase 2 of our upstream eviction prevention programs in Birmingham, AL.

The Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation invests in transformative and sustainable programs that create vibrant communities and promote equity and economic opportunity in Birmingham, the Black Belt, and the State of Alabama.

With their help we are expanding our services to reach thousands more lower-income households in Greater Birmingham, building on the results we have seen in phase 1.

We are grateful for their support for our mission to improve financial stability upstream and prevent devastating downstream outcomes like eviction and homelessness.

Airbnb Announces Support for The Flagstone Initiative

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 18:07:54 GMT

Millions of households in America live paycheck-to-paycheck, and face significant challenges to pay rent. The Flagstone Initiative is dedicated to improving financial stability for renters, to keep them in their homes.

Today, Airbnb announced their support for our upstream eviction prevention efforts. The donation is part of their broader effort to give cost-burdened renters the option to use short-term rentals as a way to supplement their income and improve financial stability.

The Airbnb press release: Our support for sensible, short-term rental policies for renters

“Millions of renters live paycheck to paycheck and need help making ends meet. Airbnb’s donation will help provide creative upstream solutions to improve their financial stability and keep them in their homes.” —Shin Inoue, CEO of the Flagstone Initiative

We are grateful to Airbnb and our many other partners for their support. Together, we can continue to shift eviction and homelessness prevention efforts upstream and avoid the devastating downstream consequences for families and communities.

The Daniel Foundation of Alabama Supports our Upstream Prevention Efforts in Alabama

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 21:06:27 GMT

We would like to thank Daniel Foundation of Alabama for their support of our upstream eviction prevention efforts in Alabama. Their support was instrumental in Phase 1 of preventing eviction with financial stability programs in Alabama. With their help, we were able to provide Rent Splitting and Rent Loans to lower-income renters in Bessemer, AL, significantly reducing the number of residents who were behind on rent. ( see this recent post for more details. ).

We applaud The Daniel Foundation of Alabama's commitment to strengthening communities within Alabama and improving the quality of life for citizens from all regions of Alabama. We greatly appreciate their help in shifting eviction prevention efforts upstream in Greater Birmingham and beyond.

Everyone Wins with Upstream Prevention

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:07 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative News, March 2024

“Nothing ever seems impossible in spring, you know.”

― L.M. Montgomery

Here at The Flagstone Initiative, we are really excited about the possibilities for upstream prevention of eviction and homelessness.

We’re continuing to see compelling evidence that it’s a win for everyone—less harm for residents, less hassle for housing providers, and less expensive for communities.

In our last newsletter, we shared some results from very similar properties in Bessemer, Alabama, two with our services and two without:

* "Delinquency" defined as having more than $100 in unpaid rent at month's end. Four properties in Bessemer, AL, all owned and operated by the same company. Both sides approximately 300 households with very similar rents and residents. From https://www.flagstoneinitiative.org/impact

As you can see, the properties with access to Flagstone’s services saw a decrease in rent delinquency and those without our services saw an increase, in part due to the additional financial challenge of the holidays.

Given the difference in rent delinquency rates, the housing partner decided to offer Flagstone to everyone in December, and the other properties started showing a downtrend in rent delinquency, too:

Residents on the right also report improved financial stability beyond rent payment. In a recent survey, 91% of those new Rent Splitting users reported that they felt better able to handle unexpected expenses *and* felt better able to afford food and other essentials when they need them.

Other people are seeing the value in upstream prevention, too. The Louisville Courier Journal recently ran a great story about Rent Splitting and Rent Loans in Kentucky: What if your rent payment wasn't due all at once? A Louisville company is trying it out

Please help us prevent eviction upstream— Make a tax-deductible gift today .

Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of struggling renters—improving financial stability, preventing eviction, and changing the way that America pays rent.

Thank you!

The Flagstone Team

Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, and Shin

The Birmingham News on The Flagstone Initiative

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 22:41:24 GMT

"Birmingham’s middle class is struggling to pay the rent; here’s how one group wants to help" by Heather Gann

Originally published March 6, 2024 on AL.com . Reprinted with permission.

Even if you’re in the middle class, you might find that sometimes your paycheck doesn’t stretch as far as you’d like.

You could, sometimes, find it a challenge to make ends meet. If you do, where do you go for help? The Flagstone Initiative, which was founded in 2021, targets one source of middle-class anxiety: paying the rent. The group partners with property managers throughout the Birmingham metro to lower eviction rates through various rental assistance programs.

In his Q&A with the Birmingham News Lede this week, co-founder Keith Pelczarski offered details on how the program works and how it can benefit the metro’s struggling middle class.

On your website, you talk about a group you refer to as the “missing middle.” Who is included in that group?

The missing middle, they’re the folks who are working, generally. They make too much to qualify for government assistance, but they’re still not making a lot of money. They’re struggling to make ends meet. A lot of folks who are working hourly jobs, that sort of thing. They make too much to get help from a lot of the resources that are available.

These are folks making between 40% to 90% of an area’s median income. In talking with folks and doing surveys and things, we found that even if we go above median income, people are still struggling with tight cash flow and limited savings.

There are a number of studies out there that suggest that somewhere in the neighborhood of 60% of folks in the United States are living paycheck to paycheck, and some of those people are considerably above the 100% level. And so, we saw that as a group that are trying hard, but they don’t have a lot of cushion. So, there’s tight cash flow, and often limited savings.

Also, there are a lot of national studies about savings that suggest that more than half the country has less than $400 saved. That’s not a lot when your car breaks down. Or if you’re working hourly and your kid gets sick, and you have to miss work in order to take care of them. You didn’t account for that loss of income, right? It’s not some moral failure on the part of the individual, it’s just sort of the way that our system is set up.

With these folks that are right on the edge, they’re just kind of one financial shock away from having a problem. Oftentimes, once you get into that, then that leads to other bad outcomes. There’s a lot of really costly credit solutions out there. There’s fines and penalties and things.

In the case of housing, if you get too far behind, you’re facing eviction notices. So, we thought, instead of waiting until the problem was big, we’d like to try to prevent that from happening in the first place.

These folks in the missing middle, their first [monthly] check oftentimes goes entirely to rent. There was a recent report from the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. And they looked at rent burdens as part of their study. And I looked up the stats for Greater Birmingham.

The median renter household income [annually] is $33,000. But their median monthly housing costs are $1,060. And 53% of renter households are cost burdened, which they defined as being above 30% of their income goes to rent. A full 30.4% of renter households were severely cost burdened, which is like more than half of their income going to rent. That’s over 41,000 renter households in Greater Birmingham. There’s thousands of households out there that are spending more than half of their income on rent.

When rent comes around, their first check goes entirely to rent, and then there’s nothing left over for anything else. They have to get creative with stretching their money to put food on the table. If anything comes up, whether it’s a car breaking down, or any other sort of unexpected expenses, they don’t have a lot of options. And they don’t have a lot of savings either.

How does The Flagstone Initiative help with that?

We have two programs to try and address those two challenges of tight cash flow and limited savings. Rent splitting addresses tight cash flow, because it gives people a free option to pay half their rent on the first and half on the 15th. That way, they have a little bit of wiggle room, and they don’t have to figure out how to stretch the food across that time. They’ve got a little bit of money in their pocket to handle whatever comes up. The feedback that we’ve gotten from residents has been incredibly

positive about it.

We recognize that that’s not always going to be enough. If something comes up, we offer rent loans to residents at the properties that we partner with. Those are $500 no fee, no interest loans, and they go straight to rent so that people don’t fall behind. Because it’s super important, right? It’s connected to all sorts of other outcomes. Not just housing security, but food security and long-term outcomes for folks.

The Eviction Lab just came out with a really insightful report on the increase in mortality rates from people who experienced not just the eviction itself, but even the threat of eviction, or just an ongoing high rent burden. And the numbers are pretty staggering. Like it’s double digit increases in unexpected mortality for folks in those groups. So together these two programs help to prevent small problems from becoming big problems.

How can people access assistance from The Flagstone Initiative if they need it?

We work in partnership with particular housing providers [like Brick & Vine in Bessemer]. And we are basically just looking for folks who have some income. Because it’s [the rent loan] $20 a week for 25 weeks, so it’s exactly $500. It gets automatically transferred, like a Netflix subscription, or something like that. It just gets auto paid for 25 weeks.

So we work through property partners in order to reach residents. And then we kind of have some idea of what their rental history is, and that they’re not just chronically delinquent, but that they’re just having some tough times.

If their property offers rent splitting, we do the calculations and stuff. We send people emails saying, pay this much for the 1st, pay this much by the 15th, to kind of make it easier for them. So, people aren’t trying to do the math on it. Especially when there’s other charges for like, pet fees, or utilities, or whatever. We sort of tally all that up and make it clear to folks what they should be paying.

What we’re trying to do is get everybody to kind of come together and create this public/private partnership to try and develop programs like ours. We don’t think that this is the silver bullet that fixes everything, but we’re trying to get upstream of things and prevent small problems from becoming bigger ones.

We think that prevention is going to be cost effective, and just generally better for everyone. So, people could go to their property and say, you guys should talk to Flagstone. And then if we can get the property to offer our services then we can kind of work through that.

Louisville Courier Journal on The Flagstone Initiative

Mon, 26 Feb 2024 03:18:49 GMT

"What if your rent payment wasn't due all at once? A Louisville company is trying it out" by Bailey Loosemore

Great story about our efforts to help paycheck-to-paycheck renters in Louisville, KY.

Reducing Delinquency, Preventing Eviction

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 02:21:32 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative News, December 2023

Seasons greetings from your friends at The Flagstone Initiative!

We’ve had a busy year helping prevent eviction with financial stability programs for paycheck-to-paycheck renters.

2023 was a big year for us. We added housing partners in Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky, and New York, and now reach 2,500 residents in five states. We received generous support from multiple foundations, and formed a partnership with NYU’s Furman Center to validate our current programs and test new ones.

This year also produced more compelling data showing how our combination of Rent Splitting and Rent Loans helps lower delinquency rates. Here is a recent comparison of very similar properties with and without our services:

Lower delinquency is evidence of improved financial stability for residents, which is also beneficial for properties—a win/win. In this case, the difference in delinquency was so remarkable that the company asked us to roll out our services at the other two properties sooner than planned!

It’s not just property partners who see the benefit. Feedback from residents also continues to be extremely positive:

“[Rent Splitting] helps because I can pay the first half and I have the money left over to pay bills and get what I need when I need it”

— S.G., Oklahoma City

“I used [Rent Loan] to catch up on my bills for sure. And without this, I probably still wouldn’t be caught up. Because once you miss one bill, it takes forever to get caught up. Throws you totally out of whack.”

— L.A., Edmond

In 2024, we will expand our reach to help more residents and develop new services to increase our impact on the challenging problems they face.

Please help us do more in the coming year— Make a tax-deductible gift today .

Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of struggling renters—improving financial stability, preventing eviction, and changing the way that America pays rent.

Thank you!

The Flagstone Team

Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, Shashank, and Shin

Two Powerful Tools for Preventing Eviction

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 21:09:14 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative News, September 2023

Greetings from your nonprofit Flagstone friends!

For those of you just tuning in, The Flagstone Initiative is a nonprofit working to prevent eviction and homelessness.

We focus on prevention because we believe that it’s way better to help people upstream rather than waiting until problems have piled up.

We do this by improving financial stability for low- to moderate-income renters who are living paycheck to paycheck.

Over the past year, we’ve seen very encouraging results from our ongoing demonstration projects with Rent Splitting and Rent Loans. Residents and housing owners/operators alike have recognized the benefits.

Rent Splitting helps with tight cash flow.

Most people get paid weekly or bi-weekly, and rent is by far their biggest expense.

In recent surveys, over 80% of residents reported that most or all of their first check of the month goes to rent—”Rent eats first.”

“Do I want to pay my rent, or do I want food in the house?” —J.S., Kentucky

With Rent Splitting, residents can pay rent in two installments, which smooths cash flow and enables people to keep food on the table and stay current on their other bills.

“I feel like if I didn't have rent split and I had to literally pay the whole thing and then pay bills, it would be a struggle to eat.” —S.G., Oklahoma

Rent Loans help when life happens.

We all experience small financial shocks from time to time—things like car repairs or missed hours due to illness.

These common shocks can lead to bigger problems if you don’t have savings. Unfortunately, 60% of the residents we serve report having zero savings.

“It can be the smallest thing. It can go from $200 today to the start of a real bad downfall.” -—E.M., Kentucky

To help residents absorb these shocks, we offer $500 Rent Loans with no fees and no interest. Residents repay with automatic $20 weekly transfers for 25 weeks, spreading out the impact of the shock.

The money is applied directly to rent, which helps avoid delinquency, late fees, and the specter of eviction.

“I appreciate the loan, you know. It helped my family extremely. We wasn’t put outside for it, so it did good.” —J.S., Kentucky

Rent Splitting and Rent Loans are more powerful together.

For 60% of Americans who live paycheck-to-paycheck, tight cash flow and lack of savings to handle life’s little shocks are common problems.

Rent Splitting and Rent Loans each do a good job of addressing one of these common problems.

Rent Splitting helps with tight cash flow.

Rent Loans help handle life’s little financial shocks.

These two solutions complement each other and are a powerful combination for preventing people from falling behind on rent and other bills.

“It’s juggling, sweetheart… I’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it’s been working until last month… I could handle things, but then the unexpected things came up.” —A.S., Chicago

Together, the combination of Rent Splitting plus Rent Loans prevents small problems from becoming big problems like eviction and homelessness.

We currently reach 2,500 residents of workforce/LIHTC housing in five states (AL, IL, KY, OK, and NY), and we’re adding more partners to extend our service to more struggling renters. Eventually, we want to offer these solutions nationwide, and change the way that Americans pay rent.

How you can help: Please connect us with anyone who can help us scale our impact -- especially foundations and landlords. We are keen to grow and provide more help to more people!

As always, we are sincerely grateful for the help and support we receive from our incredible network of partners and friends. We couldn’t do this without your help.

Thank you for your support!

The Flagstone Team
Chip, Grace, Gregor, Keith, Shashank, and Shin

Rent Splitting Demonstration Project with Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

Wed, 31 May 2023 00:55:28 GMT

We are happy to announce that we will be bringing Rent Splitting to Greater Birmingham, Alabama. Support for this Rent Splitting Demonstration Project was provided by a grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.

Rent Splitting smoothes out the biggest monthly expense for low-income households and better aligns with their paychecks, creating a stronger financial cushion throughout the month. This cushion will help them absorb small shocks like unexpected car repairs, medical bills, and reduced work hours, preventing a catastrophic downward spiral like eviction.

This will increase the chance of maintaining families in secure, quality housing. People who are stably-housed likely consume fewer public resources, are healthier, and perform better on their jobs and in school.

Rent Splitting is equivalent to a payday loan without any interest or fees. If adopted widely, it offers an alternative to predatory payday lending and could dramatically reduce the demand for this harmful financial product without the arduous legislative process for regulatory changes.

We are very grateful for the support of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham in helping renters improve their financial stability. If you are interested in working with The Flagstone Initiative to help workforce and affordable housing renters in your community, please contact us .

About Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

Rent Splitting Demonstration Project in NYC with Robin Hood and NYU

Thu, 25 May 2023 21:42:56 GMT

We’re going to the Big Apple! We’re bringing Rent Splitting to New York City in partnership with the NYU Furman Center and their Housing Solutions Lab , with the generous support of Robin Hood , New York City’s largest poverty-fighting organization.

Working with the Housing Solutions Lab will take our understanding of the impact of Rent Splitting to the next level, and we’re excited to learn more and start helping low-income renters in New York City!

Rent Splitting is a simple concept, enabling renters to pay the first half of rent on the 1st and second half on the 15th. But it is also a powerful financial stability tool for low-income renters to smooth out their biggest spending each month and better align with their paychecks. The power of it is not entirely surprising given that Rent Splitting is structurally equivalent to a payday loan without any interest or fees.

Our not-for-profit Rent Splitting has neither credit requirements nor fees, which makes it even easier for residents to benefit. In the first year of our demonstration project in Oklahoma City, Rent Splitting has consistently shown 30%+ usage, and more importantly, 53% lower delinquency and 32% lower turnover rates for the users.

Furthermore, in a survey of rent-splitting residents, 79% said that rent splitting reduced the need to borrow money to pay rent on time, and 88% said they could better handle unexpected expenses. High usage. High impact. A win-win for both residents and housing owner/operators.

Affordable and workforce housing owner/operators in NYC who are interested in participating are encouraged to contact us .

About the NYU Furman Center

A bout the Housing Solutions Lab

About Robin Hood

Alabama Power Foundation supporting Emergency Loans in Greater Birmingham

Thu, 25 May 2023 00:09:08 GMT

The Flagstone Initiative is pleased to announce that the Alabama Power Foundation has provided a grant and a project-related investment to expand our Emergency Loans to an additional 500 affordable and workforce housing renters in the Greater Birmingham area.

Greater Birmingham is one of the metro regions in our multiphase national demonstration project of our financial stability and prevention strategies, expanding on our initial service areas in Bessemer and Gadsden, AL.

This grant will help us validate our program’s financial stability impact at scale and across regions and invest in technology infrastructure to automate program operations and reduce the ongoing costs of providing service.

We are excited to expand the reach and impact of our financial shock-absorbers for affordable and workforce housing renters in Alabama, and we are extremely grateful for the Alabama Power Foundation’s support.

About the Alabama Power Foundation

The Flagstone Initiative selected as a semi-finalist in the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge

Tue, 23 May 2023 19:39:31 GMT

We are delighted to announce that we have been selected as one of 42 housing innovators to advance to Round 2 of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge , from a pool of over 400 candidates. The Challenge is presented by Enterprise Community Partners with the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Our entry in the Challenge is making Rent Splitting completely free and dramatically scaling it for 15 million low- and moderate-income renters.

Here’s the announcement from Enterprise Community Partners:

42 Housing Innovators Advance in the

2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge

Round 2 of the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge is underway, with 42 organizations from Florida to Alaska selected to advance their housing innovation in this next important phase of the competition.

Semi-finalists were selected from a pool of over 400 nationwide applications. They are competing for grants up to $3 million to fuel housing solutions across the challenge’s three focus areas: construction, financing, and access and resident support.

Enterprise leads the Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge with the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation. The 2023 challenge is the second cycle of the innovation competition, created to spark and support housing solutions that reimagine access to quality places to live in the United States.

Meet the Round 2 semi-finalists

We’re honored to have been recognized as a semi-finalist, and excited about the chance to expand Rent Splitting at a broader scale. Keep your fingers crossed, and stay tuned!

Renter Financial Health and Financial Shock-Absorbers

Thu, 11 May 2023 02:14:14 GMT

Shin and Keith recently had the opportunity to present our work in a webinar hosted by the Financial Health Network. Here's the video evidence.

An Opportunity for Workforce Housing Landlords

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 00:14:34 GMT

The majority of workforce housing residents struggle to stay ahead of expenses.
These struggles are not top of mind for landlords, because most residents prioritize rent as the first bill they pay.
Helping these ignored residents will result in improved financial outcomes for both residents and landlords.

When it comes to finances, many Americans are struggling to stay afloat. They live paycheck to paycheck, juggling bills, late fees, and debt to avoid suspension of critical services or even losing their homes. The best way to financially help people is to give them assistance before they are in a crisis, rather than reactively trying to bail them out after things have gotten ugly.

In our previous post, we shared the three levels of financial stability among the multi-family workforce residents in Oklahoma City, OK and Bessemer, AL:

Stable – No difficulties on rent. No cutbacks on life essentials.
Struggling – Struggling financially, but juggling and prioritizing to make rent most of the time.
Behind – Not only struggling, but delinquent 30% or more of the time.

In the analysis, “Behind” had an average delinquency balance of $1,280. Some were behind a few thousand dollars. Without significant intervention by external agencies like the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program , it is difficult to turn these situations around on their own.

As these pandemic-based assistance programs wind down, landlords will find fewer and fewer tools to treat these situations for the “Behind” and will resort to evictions.

What if we focused on the middle “Struggling” group instead? Per our last post, “Struggling” looks like everything is going smoothly, but they are often one shock away from falling into “Behind” and facing a prospect of an eviction – because they have so little cushion to absorb everyday life events like car repairs, hospital bills, and even deaths in the family.

Jumping in to provide timely assistance before it morphs into a more chronic problem, before it requires thousands of dollars to fix, may be key for the resident, for the landlord, and for society.

We should also proactively work to help residents prepare for the inevitable unexpected shocks to income and expenses by incentivizing emergency savings.

Together, prevention and timely intervention can help residents avoid financial crises, similar to the way that prevention and timely intervention are used in health care to avoid medical emergencies.

If we can prevent a “Struggling” resident from joining the “Behind”, not only is that a big win for residents, it’s also a win for the landlord as it prevents one potential resident eviction, decreases resident turnover, and improves the resident NPS.

While this sounds good on paper, it is entirely a different story to put it into practice. In a future post, we'll discuss exactly when, how, and for whom we take timely, preventative action for the “Struggling.”

Turning Attention to an Ignored Segment in Workforce Housing

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 19:46:15 GMT

Some residents are doing okay, some are in really bad shape, but the majority are struggling to stay ahead of their bills. This majority is often ignored.

Today we’re going to share the segmentation that we use to think about people’s general financial situations and give some insight into how we arrived at this segmentation. There will also be a duck analogy. There will not be a quiz at the end.

We recently conducted interviews and surveys of multi-family workforce housing residents in Oklahoma City, OK and Bessemer, AL.* We asked questions regarding their stress levels around finances and rent, and also asked about things that they’ve cut back spending on recently. We compared the results of the interviews and surveys against rent payment histories. This analysis revealed three levels of financial stability amongst the residents:**

“Stable” is a group of residents who express “no difficulties” in paying rent and pay rent on time. This group is well-served by for-profit financial services.

On the other end of the spectrum is “Behind”, a group of residents who are delinquent 30% or more of the time. (*Delinquency defined as more than $100 in the delinquency balance at the end of the month) This group generally has very obvious financial challenges and they are likely to be receiving or targeted for government assistance.

Looking at rent payment data, the “Struggling” middle group looks a lot like the Stable group. They generally pay their rent on time, but in interviews and surveys report significant financial struggles. 75% of this group say they’ve cut back on essential items like food, medicine, and doctor’s visits in the past 3 months.

It is likely that they are juggling, cutting back on life essentials, and living paycheck to paycheck to prioritize rent and secure the roof over their heads. The unfortunate reality is that the “Struggling” group is one shock away from a much bigger crisis like losing a home.

This group’s struggles are hidden from the landlords’ attention because the landlords spend a disproportionate amount of time with residents who are actually “Behind” on rent. The government programs are also geared toward bigger crises like homelessness and people who are already way “Behind.”

As a result, their silent efforts and struggles are often ignored by the landlords and the government programs, and they seem to be fighting the difficult fight on their own. They are like the noble duck, calm and composed above the surface, but paddling like mad underneath.

These folks are the types of residents that landlords should be helping, not only because it’s a good thing to do, but it’s also an easy way to reduce delinquency, turnover, and eviction. We’ll explore this more in our next post.

Thanks for reading!

*Our analysis aggregated 250+ resident survey responses with their rental payment history for the last 24 months.

**Based on our sampling, we find our three levels of financial stability to span the “Coping” and “Vulnerable” categories of the Financial Health Network’s FinHealth Score segmentation: Healthy/Coping/Vulnerable.

Flagstone is a Financial Solutions Lab 2022 Exchange Grantee!

Wed, 02 Nov 2022 23:42:41 GMT

We are delighted to announce that we are part of the Financial Solutions Lab's 2022 Exchange cohort! Over the coming year, we'll be working with MoCaFi and our real estate partners to expand our community emergency fund to help low- to moderate-income (LMI) renters weather financial shocks.

We're looking forward to helping more people and gaining additional insight into how we can better serve the communities we work with.

We are very grateful to the Financial Solutions Lab, the Financial Health Network, and their partners JPMorgan Chase and Prudential for their support of our mission!

Here's the full release from Financial Solutions Lab .

What's the Big Idea?

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 21:47:31 GMT

Financial emergencies happen. Whether it’s a car repair, a medical expense, or lost hours, everyone has times when they need an emergency savings cushion to fall back on.

Many Americans don’t have a cushion, living paycheck to paycheck, juggling their finances every month to stay on top of their bills. Numerous studies have shown that almost half of us don't have $500 saved for emergencies.

There are lots of financial services out there, but very few of them are designed to help people who are just getting by. The services that are available to these folks are often exploitative and carry heavy costs (think payday loans).

As a society, we often wait to address problems until it’s too late, focusing on treatment of problems rather than prevention. There are lots of examples of this, like healthcare, the environment, and homelessness, to name a few.

What if we tried to proactively prevent financial problems before they occur, and prevent unexpected shocks from becoming a financial crisis? That’s the big idea.

To do that, we decided to start a nonprofit, The Flagstone Initiative, to help improve financial stability and mobility for people who are working hard just to pay the bills, to help give them some kind of financial stability, without the conflict of pursuing profit off of them.

We have partnered with landlords who are interested in helping their residents, landlords who want to do right, not just make a buck. And by helping absorb shocks and keeping residents from a financial crisis, we can create a win-win for residents and for landlords.

We are a curious bunch, and we have a lot of questions:

How can we help people save for “everyday emergencies”?
What are the best opportunities to "enter the tunnel" and provide assistance when people are faced with scarcity of money and/or time?
How can we help landlords improve the financial stability and mobility of residents?

We continually seek to better understand the challenges faced by residents, and we are identifying and testing possible solutions to address some of these challenges.

To aid our search for greater understanding, we regularly conduct surveys and interviews aimed at understanding people’s quantitative financial situations and how they feel about them qualitatively.

We combine these elements with data obtained through our real estate partners to develop a more detailed picture of what’s going on.

Beyond improving our understanding, we use our insights to inform strategies for helping people. We are running a series of pilot tests of potential solutions, measuring the results both qualitatively and quantitatively.

We will periodically publish our insights and findings on this blog. We hope that you will find them interesting, useful, maybe even eye-opening. And sometimes we’ll share things that seem obvious but bear repeating, to emphasize their importance.

If you have any comments to share with us, or just want to say hello, you can drop us a note at hello@flagstoneinitiative.org

Thanks for reading,

Grace, Keith, Shashank, and Shin

The Flagstone Initiative News & Insights

LAHTF continues their support of Flagstone’s Rent Loans in Louisville

The William Josef Foundation supports Rent Loans for paycheck-to-paycheck renters in Georgia

Zillow 4 Good contributes to Flagstone to help renters nationwide

Thank you, Gregor Watson!

We write today to express our sincerest gratitude to Gregor Watson for his significant role in getting the Flagstone Initiative off the ground.

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta helps us help ATL renters

The Gheens Foundation renews support for Kentucky renters

The Flagstone Initiative News, August 2025

Community Foundation of Louisville supports Flagstone's work in Kentucky

Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation renews support for Alabama renters

Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund supports Flagstone's work in Kentucky

Housing Affordability Trust renews and increases support for Alabama renters

Flagstone at Community Preservation Corporation (CPC)'s 50th Anniversary Symposium

"Improve Housing Stability for Rent-Burdened Families with Rent Splitting and Rent Loans"

Alabama Power Foundation Continues Support for Flagstone in Alabama

The Daniel Foundation Provides Additional Support for Alabama Renters

Change is in the air

The Flagstone Initiative News

October 2024 ﻿

Pandemic ERAP Funds Prevented Eviction… What’s Next?

The Flagstone Initiative News

June 2024

Housing Affordability Trust Supports Birmingham, AL Renters

Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Provides Additional Support for Birmingham Renters

The Gheens Foundation Supports Upstream Eviction Prevention in Louisville, KY

Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation Supports Upstream Eviction Prevention in Birmingham, AL

Airbnb Announces Support for The Flagstone Initiative

The Daniel Foundation of Alabama Supports our Upstream Prevention Efforts in Alabama

Everyone Wins with Upstream Prevention

The Flagstone Initiative News, March 2024

The Birmingham News on The Flagstone Initiative

"Birmingham’s middle class is struggling to pay the rent; here’s how one group wants to help" by Heather Gann

Louisville Courier Journal on The Flagstone Initiative

"What if your rent payment wasn't due all at once? A Louisville company is trying it out" by Bailey Loosemore

Reducing Delinquency, Preventing Eviction

The Flagstone Initiative News, December 2023

Seasons greetings from your friends at The Flagstone Initiative!

Lower delinquency is evidence of improved financial stability for residents, which is also beneficial for properties—a win/win. In this case, the difference in delinquency was so remarkable that the company asked us to roll out our services at the other two properties sooner than planned!

Two Powerful Tools for Preventing Eviction

The Flagstone Initiative News, September 2023

“Do I want to pay my rent, or do I want food in the house?” —J.S., Kentucky

“It can be the smallest thing. It can go from $200 today to the start of a real bad downfall.” -—E.M., Kentucky

“It’s juggling, sweetheart… I’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it’s been working until last month… I could handle things, but then the unexpected things came up.” —A.S., Chicago

Rent Splitting Demonstration Project with Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

Rent Splitting Demonstration Project in NYC with Robin Hood and NYU

Alabama Power Foundation supporting Emergency Loans in Greater Birmingham

The Flagstone Initiative selected as a semi-finalist in the 2023 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge

Renter Financial Health and Financial Shock-Absorbers

Shin and Keith recently had the opportunity to present our work in a webinar hosted by the Financial Health Network. Here's the video evidence.

An Opportunity for Workforce Housing Landlords

Turning Attention to an Ignored Segment in Workforce Housing

Some residents are doing okay, some are in really bad shape, but the majority are struggling to stay ahead of their bills. This majority is often ignored.

Flagstone is a Financial Solutions Lab 2022 Exchange Grantee!

What's the Big Idea?

October 2024