The Sunflower Houses
The Sunflower Houses provide transitional, low-barrier, affordable housing for formerly incarcerated and court-involved people. They provide wraparound services to people in reentry and facilitate their successful reintegration into our community.
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The project is an unprecedented collaboration between URO, Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services (INHS), and Opportunities, Alternatives and Resources (OAR).
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The implementation of the Sunflower Houses Program showed that program expenses (rent, utilities, maintenance) and personnel costs were underestimated when the program was first conceptualized and funded.
We recommend that the Tompkins County Legislature permanently fund the program’s actual costs + staff training costs in the amount of $170,000 per year to reduce homelessness and recidivism in the County long term.
...Because I'm going to have a hard time trying to find a job, it's going to be hard for me to make money and get myself into my own place. Then that's where Sunflower came in.
-Former Sunflower Resident
By the numbers:
Equitable & inclusive admission practices
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34% of participants identify as Black or African American
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20% identify as women
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9% identify as LGBTQ+
Low recidivism rate
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7% in-program rebooking recidivism rate, a rate quite low given clients’ risks associated with substance use, mental health conditions, and chronic illnesses
Positive post-program housing outcomes
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61% decrease in homelessness
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26% increase in clients who secured permanent housing
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10% increase in clients who secured temporary housing
Here's how we got here:
Spring 2018
URO commissions Data Development Working Group to collect qualitative research about prominent systemic barriers to reentry in Tompkins County. After being awarded an $18,000 Engaged Research grant from Cornell University, co-principal investigators Jamila Michener, Joe Margulies and Paula Ioanide obtained IRB approval and trained approximately 40 undergraduate students at Cornell University and Ithaca College in human subject research with vulnerable populations.
Fall 2019
Undergraduate students conducted 54 interviews with individuals living in Tompkins County who were 18 years or older and previously involved with the criminal justice system (prison and/or jail)
Spring 2020
Students assisted with coding and analyzing 54 qualitative interviews and conducting background research
October 2021
Housing Report on Systemic Barriers to Reentry in Tompkins County released publicly and presented to governmental and community stakeholders. The report is used in Tompkins County Legislature sessions to petition for county funding for Sunflower Houses. Legislature approves funding for 3-year pilot project
December 2021
The Tompkins County Legislature funds Research Assessment to study effectiveness of Sunflower Houses over 3-year pilot period
January 2022
March 2022
Housing Summit takes place at Ithaca College to co-develop housing priorities for URO, identify issues, coordinate next steps using collective impact model
October 2022
OTR funding renewed to URO for 2023 Sunflower Houses Research Assessment and 2023 OAR funding for Sunflower Houses Program operations
October 2023
Overtarget Request funding renewed for 2024 Sunflower Houses Research Assessment