Innovation Funds are helping families find stability faster

In Texarkana, families are moving from homelessness to stability in days, not months.

Through Texas Homeless Network’s Innovation Fund, Ground Floor Collective partnered with Texarkana ISD to quickly connect families to housing using flexible funding to remove immediate barriers like deposits, utilities and past-due bills.

“Flexible funding gives us the ability to act in the moment a family is in crisis, when waiting even a few days can mean another night in a car, another missed day of school, another medical setback, or another family slipping further into trauma,” said Rebekah Wagner of Texarkana ISD.

A different approach: meeting families where they are

The Innovation Fund was designed to address a simple challenge: systems are often too slow to respond to urgent needs.

“We already knew who needed help,” Wagner said. “They just didn’t have access to the resources to take that next step.”

By pairing flexible funding with local knowledge, communities can act in real time.

Immediate impact: from months to days

The results have been rapid and measurable.

Families who may have waited months are now being housed in as little as two days, sometimes even the same day.

“Every day matters when you’re living like that,” said Chris Howell of Ground Floor Collective. “To be able to solve the problem immediately… it’s life changing.”

Students who had stopped attending school due to housing instability have already been re-enrolled and are showing improved attendance.

Examples of impact from Rebekah Wagner: 

It allowed us to help a mother with disabilities who had spent years fleeing domestic violence while trying to raise three children on her own. Since moving into their new home, her children have been in school every day. 

It helped us keep another mother and her two toddlers off the street after the abrupt collapse of a marriage left them with nowhere to go and just $25 to their name. Because flexible funding was available, we were able to intervene before homelessness became a longer-term pattern. That support gave this young family a fresh start instead of another layer of trauma. She told us, “I will never be able to repay this kindness.”

It allowed us to assist a mother who was raising three children of her own while also helping care for a grandchild, all while battling a brain aneurysm and working full time. Before assistance, the family was sleeping in her truck at night. Now, instead of spending every ounce of energy trying to survive one more night, she can focus on managing her health so she can remain present for her children. 

It also gave one family, forced out of an apartment building with only three days’ notice after the property was sold, a chance to move out of crisis and back into housing before they became entrenched in homelessness. 

Why flexible funding works

Flexible funding allows communities to respond at the exact moment a crisis happens, before it escalates.

In just over two weeks, 10 families have already been assisted, with more in progress. Families who were living in cars or cycling through hotels are now in stable housing.

“It allows us to respond when the crisis is real, immediate, and deeply human.”

Real lives, real change

The impact goes beyond housing.

Children are back in school. Parents are able to focus on work, health and long-term stability. Families are no longer navigating crisis alone.

“This has been life changing for so many families,” Wagner shared.

A model rooted in partnership

This work is made possible through strong local collaboration.

Texarkana ISD identifies families and provides ongoing support, while Ground Floor Collective distributes funds quickly and efficiently, sometimes the same day a need is identified.

“It was the easiest, most efficient way to do it,” Howell said. “They already knew who needed help.”