Fight Against Homelessness

Sometimes, helping to solve big world problems, like homelessness, starts by employing the passion of a small but dedicated workforce that is willing to dive into the deep end of the pool together.

The nonprofit Housing Connector, which ranks as one of Seattle Business magazine’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2022 in the small companies category, is on a mission to tackle the growing problem of homelessness. The business was launched in 2019 as an incubator project backed by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.

Seattle-based Housing Connector, as its name implies, works to connect the dozens of nonprofits serving the city’s unhoused with area property owners and managers who have available housing units. Shkelqim Kelmendi, founder and executive director, says his organization offers the city’s fragmented nonprofit community a single point of entry, free of charge, where caseworkers can go to find housing units in real time “to get their folks housed faster and then keep them housed.

“We have a partnership with (the online real estate marketplace) Zillow, where we’ve developed this platform that’s embedded within Zillow,” Kelmendi says. “And the case managers (for the nonprofits) can just log into zillow.com, and they get to see units that aren’t visible to the general public — and then directly reach out to them (the landlords) and start the application process.”

Housing Connector also works directly with property owners and managers, offering to reduce their risks through programs that provide reimbursement for tenant damages to housing units or cover missed rent payments, and more. In exchange, the landlords agree to lower barriers to housing that the unhoused often face — such as poor credit scores or the black mark of past evictions.

Housing Connector, which plans to expand from 18 to 24 employees in the next month, has gained traction in addressing the homeless problem since its launch. Earlier this year, it entered the Denver market, with plans to scale to Dallas early next year — and then Portland, Oregon, or Chicago in early 2024.

“Our projections are that we’re going to be able to house 11,000 people by the end of 2024,” Kelmendi predicts.

Kelmendi adds that Housing Connector will have to raise several million dollars in new donations and grants to fund the expansion, which he is confident will happen. He also recognizes that no expansion plan can be successful absent a motivated and productive workforce, however.

“I think the reason folks really appreciate working here is that this is a rocket ship that’s moving fast,” Kelmendi says. “There’s a lot of expected of them, but they have a ton of ownership and freedom to be innovative.”

Housing Connector offers employees other perks beyond being part of an innovative, tech-forward team. Quarterly retreats, reduced work hours on Fridays during the summer, flexible time off and time off for community service work, mentoring, stipends for home-office set-up (most employees still work remotely) as well as competitive pay and benefits are all part of the package.

“I made a promise to myself that I’m never going to pay people a wage where they can’t afford to live in this community,” Kelmendi says. “We’re going to treat people right and we’re going to pay them right. The goal is by next year to be above $70,000 (in salary) for every team member.”

Kelmendi adds that the people who work at Housing Connector need to have a passion for the work the nonprofit is doing for that mission to be successful. That passion, for Kelmendi, comes with receipts. He lived with his family in a refugee camp for a time during the Balkan wars in the 1990s. His family is from Kosovo in Eastern Europe and “we kind of won the lottery to come to America,” he says.

“For me, it’s a personal thing,” he adds, “because my family came to the U.S. as refugees, and we dealt with similar situations.”