JumpStart

Formerly known as the Family Self-Sufficiency Program, JumpStart offers voucher holders continuous, personalized support for building a stronger future. Working with a JumpStart coordinator, participants identify their dreams and lay out plans to achieve them goal-by-goal.

Welcome to JumpStart!

Your Housing Choice Voucher is your ticket to a safe, affordable home. JumpStart is your ticket to building a stronger future.

Housing Catalyst’s JumpStart program is exclusively for voucher holders like you. It’s free and we have spots open for you to start right away.

Once you’re settled in your new home, you might be dreaming about what’s next. Do you want to learn new skills, find a better job, further your education, buy a car, secure reliable childcare, or get out of debt and start saving for your future? However you want to jump start your future, Housing Catalyst is here to help.

JumpStart is simple and customized to meet your goals. All you need to do is sign up and meet with your JumpStart coach. At your first meeting you and your coach will talk about your dreams for the future and lay out a plan to achieve them goal by goal. Together, you’ll break each goal down into doable steps and plot out a manageable time frame. You’ll schedule regular meetings to track your progress, troubleshoot, and make adjustments.

Your coach will be there for you for up to five years as you achieve your personal and financial goals, and will point you to other community resources that can help you along the way.

Over the years, Jumpstart graduates have accomplished many life-changing goals like improving their credit score, paying off debt, completing a trade certification or college degree, earning a promotion or landing a new job they enjoy, helping their kids improve in school, and building up their savings.

As you work toward your goals in the JumpStart program, your income will likely increase. When that happens, your rent will also increase. JumpStart allows you to capture some of that increase in an escrow account that will be yours once you graduate. A few graduates have earned enough for the down payment on their very own homes!

Clear your path. Reach your goals. Jumpstart your future today!

Ignite your potential

As a participant in the JumpStart program, you will work with your JumpStart coordinator to identify and achieve goals in five focus areas:

  • Health & Wellness
  • Education & Employment
  • Financial Empowerment
  • Life Skills
  • Community Engagement

Your goals might include opening a savings account, securing reliable transportation, finding childcare, or enrolling in a degree or certification program. Your JumpStart coordinator will help you choose goals that fit your interests and support your long-term wellbeing.

Your JumpStart coordinator can support you for up to five years, working with you to troubleshoot obstacles and connecting you with community resources. During your time in the program, you also have the option to capture some of your rent in an escrow account that will be available to you upon graduation. Some JumpStart graduates have used their escrow account toward the down payment on a new home.

JumpStart is your opportunity to clear your path, reach your goals, and jumpstart your future!

Get started

To learn more about the program, contact the JumpStart team at [email protected] or  970-416-2910.