SUMMIT, NJ, April 22, 2020 – Family Promise, a national non-profit, and Synchrony, a leading consumer financial services company, today announced the pilot launch of a new $1.2 million shelter diversion initiative aimed to help families combat homelessness, an especially important effort amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

Local communities are adopting shelter diversion strategies to successfully keep families in housing and out of emergency shelter systems. Shelter diversion helps end homelessness by prioritizing housing-based intervention, preserving community resources for those who need it most, and preventing the stress and trauma of shelter where other options exist.

According to data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), at least 30 percent of households seeking shelter can successfully remain in or be placed in housing. And diversion costs are significantly less than the cost of shelter, rapid rehousing, or transitional housing, per a NAEH study.

The Synchrony Foundation has committed $1.2 million to support ten Family Promise Affiliates around the country. Each Affiliate will receive virtual shelter diversion training and $50,000 in funding, most of which will be used to directly help struggling families, including assistance with security and utility deposits, rental arrears, transportation, groceries, and more. At the conclusion of the year-long pilot, Family Promise will develop best practices to roll out to Affiliates across the country.

“Synchrony is proud to partner with Family Promise to serve struggling families and children, especially in this time of crisis,” said Denise Yap, Synchrony Senior Vice President and Corporate Citizenship Leader. “This shelter diversion initiative will help prevent homelessness and equip families with the tools they need to achieve stability in their lives.”

Synchrony’s philanthropic initiative called Families that Work, provides grant support to non-profits that are making a difference in the lives of low-income working families, tackling challenges such as family homelessness, economic security, hunger and out-of-school care.

Following an RFP process, ten Family Promise Affiliates were selected to participate in the pilot program, as part of Family Promise’s A Future Begins at Home prevention and stabilization housing initiative. The Affiliates are: Butler County (OH), Davie County (NC), South Bay (CA), Lawrence (KS), Greater Orlando (FL), Hawaii (HI), Northern New Castle County (DE), Greater Indianapolis (IN), Greater Concord (NH), South Sarasota County (FL).

“During this unprecedented time, Family Promise’s holistic approach to the crisis of family homelessness includes prevention, shelter, and stabilization,” says Claas Ehlers, Family Promise CEO. “While providing shelter has always been a Family Promise priority, it is much more effective to prevent homelessness in the first place. We are thrilled to be partnering with Synchrony on this pioneering shelter diversion initiative. A national diversion program will reduce the number of families entering the shelter system, easing the strain on the program and reducing waiting lists, benefitting both the families served and the communities in which they live.” 
 
ABOUT FAMILY PROMISE
Family Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and served more than 125,000 family members in 2018. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030.

ABOUT SYNCHRONY
Synchrony (NYSE: SYF) is a premier consumer financial services company. We deliver a wide range of specialized financing programs, as well as innovative consumer banking products, across key industries including digital, retail, home, auto, travel, health and pet. Synchrony enables our partners to grow sales and loyalty with consumers. We are one of the largest issuers of private label credit cards in the United States; we also offer co-branded products, installment loans and consumer financing products for small- and medium-sized businesses, as well as healthcare providers.
 
Synchrony is changing what’s possible through our digital capabilities, deep industry expertise, actionable data insights, frictionless customer experience and customized financing solutions. For more information, visit http://www.synchrony.com and Twitter: @Synchrony.

Media Contact: 
Angie Hu
Angie.Hu@syf.com
(203) 585-2681