By: AIF Staff
Since 2022, the American Idea Foundation has offered policy advice, generated awareness, and provided financial support to nearly 30 organizations across the United States. The goal is to help these organizations as they work to alleviate poverty and address complex social challenges in a data-driven, evidence-based way.
In partnering with these organizations that are doing amazing work in every corner of the country, the American Idea Foundation hopes to identify promising solutions that can be studied, scaled, and replicated.
In some cases, the Foundation’s grantees have a long history of working with academic researchers and data scientists to evaluate their programs in a rigorous manner, usually through impact evaluations or randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In other cases, organizations are committed to developing an initial base of evidence to determine if their solutions are truly having a quantifiable impact on those they serve.
Inviting academics to evaluate a program can be a nerve-wrecking experience, but former Speaker of the House and AIF President Paul Ryan believes it is necessary if America wants to break the cycle of poverty and overcome the problems plaguing our communities. In Ryan’s view, it is vital that these front-line organizations match their powerful anecdotal evidence with data and empirically-sound research. By doing so, these organizations will arm policymakers and community leaders with the data and evidence to prioritize what works, deprioritize what doesn’t, and develop a more targeted and effective approach to fighting poverty.
One of the organizations that is committed to developing an initial base of evidence and data around their programming isFamily Promise.
In 2024, AIF partnered with Family Promise of West Michigan as they, along with Family Promise of Spokane, and the Lord’s Place (located in West Palm Beach), conduct a randomized controlled trial with researchers at Notre Dame’s Laboratory for Economic Opportunities, to study how flexible financial assistance during diversion conversations impacts housing shelter use, housing stability issues, and other outcomes.
The goal of the trial is to determine if individuals who are diverted from homeless shelters, largely through financial assistance or other support services, will have increased housing stability and improved outcomes in terms of income, employment, and overall well-being.
This year, with the RCT of Family Promise still ongoing, the American Idea Foundation will focus on helping build Family Promise’s capacity in the state of Wisconsin.
Family Promise of Wisconsin is a state-based affiliate of the national Family Promise organization, which works with faith-based and community organizations to move families to stable housing where they can grow and thrive. Family Promise of Wisconsin is focused on ending homelessness by connecting families in need with a suite of services like supplies to meet their basic needs, access to family support and emergency assistance, and other stabilization efforts.
Family Promise of Wisconsin employs a case management model, which means providing individualized, wrap-around support for families and their children during times of great need. The people engaging Family Promise of Wisconsin are often seeking urgent assistance with basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter and Family Promise works tirelessly to address their immediate problems while identifying long-term solutions for shelter.
They try to divert clients away from homelessness and costly shelter stays by instead providing them with alternative temporary housing options. Most individuals who enter emergency shelters tend to remain homeless longer, which is why Family Promise seeks to intervene before that occurs, operating with a lighter touch and supporting individuals as they find alternatives like short-term rental housing or staying with family and friends.
Family Promise uses local resources, volunteers, and organizations to create a network of assistance that keeps families intact and children healthy. As part of the wrap-around support, families are given access to Family Promise services like tutoring, summer programming, and trauma-informed mental health care. The video below provides an overview of their holistic approach.
Across the country, Family Promise has a network of 200 sites in 40 different states. Since 1988, they have helped over 1,000,000 families in times of great need. Most of their families (50%) are minorities and 100% are low-income or no-income. In 2024, they served 25,000 families nation-wide, 50% of whom were minorities and 100% are low-or-no income households.
Family Promise is looking to expand to 8 sites operating full-time in Wisconsin. Thus far, they have served 516 Wisconsin families with 936 children through their four core programs: Prevention, Shelter, Housing, and Stabilization. The support provided by the American Idea Foundation will go towards expanding Family Promise’s operations into areas like Monroe, Ozaukee, and Washington Counties, helping train staff and volunteers, and giving the organization added capacity to help more families and kids with emergency stabilization needs.
As Family Promise summarized in their 2024 Annual Report: “Preventing and ending family homelessness requires a community response. Family Promise maximizes impact through extensive partnerships and collaborative contributions at the national level, as well as through local businesses and community organizations within every community.” The American Idea Foundation is proud to assist them in this noble endeavor and help build a base of evidence that hopefully validates the profound impact Family Promise is having in Wisconsin and around the country.
To learn more about the American Idea Foundation’s 2025 grant recipients, click here.