When Akron resident DeAngelo Guest was diagnosed with a kidney disease in June 2023, he didn’t know that getting healthy would mean losing his apartment.
About two months after he started dialysis, he lost his job as a customer success manager for an engineering company because of how long he needed for recovery from treatments.. Four months later, he had completely exhausted his savings.
“I was so stressed out,” said Guest, who has been diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or permanent kidney failure. “… I could see the turmoil coming and the downhill spiral coming.”
After dialysis treatment, he would have to sleep the rest of the day, he said. It was hard to find work to rebuild his savings. In the meantime, he was at risk of losing the apartment in downtown Akron where he had lived for four years.
That’s where United Way of Summit & Medina’s Housing Stability Fund stepped in. Since the housing assistance program launched in May 2024, it has provided financial assistance to 87 local households, including Guest’s.
The pilot program was created and paid for by CareSource, a national nonprofit that manages and provides health insurance plans. The goal is to prevent CareSource members from becoming homeless due to health circumstances.
“It completely helped me find somewhere stable to live, somewhere stable to do my treatments at,” Guest said. “It alleviated so much stress for the next couple months.”
Alleviating stress with housing help
Dr. Amy Lee, a professor of family and community medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University, said unstable housing can be detrimental to a person’s health.
“If you’re constantly worried, you’ve got a lot of anxiety about your housing, you can’t take care of your health,” said Lee, who is also the program director for the Consortium of Eastern Ohio Master of Public Health program.
Often, people with insecure housing may go to the hospital for shelter, said Leesa Bruback, centralized intake manager for the diversion program at United Way of Summit & Medina.
After receiving Housing Stability Fund money, CareSource members who are on Medicaid have seen a 53% decrease in their medical costs, according to Vicki McDonald, director of media relations for CareSource.
Additionally, she said 71% of households who received aid have maintained stable housing.
The aid has taken stress off of Guest’s shoulders as he undergoes dialysis three times per week. His health has improved, and he got a new job working at an insurance company.
CareSource gave Guest, who is 35, guidance on finding housing, and he found a new apartment on Akron’s west side.
The fund paid his first month’s security deposit and about three months of rent, totaling around $2,800. Guest is now able to maintain rent payments himself.
“I just needed that little bit of help to get someone to trust me and be able to work with me,” he said.
How the Housing Stability Fund works
Maura Klein, CareSource’s housing strategy lead for Ohio, said the idea for the fund came after the organization identified a gap in immediate housing needs for homeless and at-risk for homelessness CareSource members. She came up with the idea to have a flexible pot of money that could be used to address those needs.
“Folks who are falling into this situation that we’re talking about with housing instability are your neighbors,” Klein said.
“They’re working families, struggling and living paycheck to paycheck, and an unexpected expense can hit, and prevention programs like this can stop the cycle of homelessness before it starts and are cost-effective.”
The program has distributed more than $173,000 so far. CareSource initially invested $300,000 to support the program locally.
Klein said when households contact United Way of Summit & Medina, they are assessed for needs. United Way can then connect them to CareSource’s Life Services program, which offers life coaching and holistic support, including resources for employment, food insecurity and housing.
Only CareSource members who are high risk and either homeless or at risk of homelessness can access the fund. Members who are qualified for the program include people who are:
- Dealing with a medical condition that would make them more susceptible to overutilizing the medical system if they were to become homeless.
- Pregnant.
- Over the age of 60.
- Behind on rent because they are dealing with a medical condition.
- In need of help to secure shelter in a place they have already located.
A client must verify they have a steady income stream and can sustain rent after receiving assistance, Bruback said. Once they find a place to move into, Bruback or a United Way representative works with the landlord to ensure they accept third-party funds.
“It’s supposed to be a one-time light touch,” Bruback said.
There is an upper barrier of around $3,000 per household, but the program is flexible, Klein said.
“We run into hiccups … in our lives a lot,” she said. “If folks are already living paycheck to paycheck, and that one thing happens, I’m so glad that this fund has been there and been so flexible for us to be able to provide that assistance to keep families from entering the homeless system.”
How housing and health relate
The stress that a looming eviction could cause may lead to a negative impact on someone’s physical health, Bruback said. With stable housing, much of this stress is taken away, and a family or individual can focus on taking their medicine, cooking food and getting healthy instead of worrying about their water or lights being cut off.
Sometimes people are one emergency away from not being able to pay their rent or mortgage, Lee said. Having a program like the Housing Stability Fund can reduce stress and respond to basic needs every human requires to live a fulfilled life.
“Everything just compounds if you’re worried about where you’re going to be living,” she said.
Guest said that, since securing stable housing, his health has improved.
“I honestly believe I don’t get sick after treatment anymore because I’m not stressed out,” he said. “It has helped me tremendously, also with allowing me to take my medications and take those on time daily, having somewhere to live and put my medications.”
Program success so far
Since the program launched, it has resulted in a 65% successful diversion rate from the homeless system, McDonald said.
Klein said she’s seen a decrease in hospital and emergency room stays. She’s also seen program participants take their prescribed medications, see their primary care physicians and visit mental health practitioners more often.
Klein hopes to soon expand the program statewide to assist as many CareSource members as possible, hopefully starting in Franklin and Hamilton counties.
Guest encouraged those struggling to pay rent not to be afraid to ask for and accept help.
“Do the work, do the research, figure out what’s out there and what’s available,” he said. “Don’t give up.”
To receive assistance, CareSource members can call Member Services, and anyone else can call United Way of Summit & Medina at 211 to begin the assessment process.
Lauren Cohen is a community reporting intern for the Akron Beacon Journal and Signal Akron. The position is funded through a grant from the Knight Foundation, which is a financial supporter of Signal Akron.
