Our Story
Anthos|Home was founded in 2022 by Laura Lazarus and Leslie Abbey, leaders with decades of government and nonprofit experience in the housing, health, child welfare, and social services fields. Their inspiration came from experiences working with youth and families who had vouchers but still struggled to find housing.
In New York—and in many parts of the country—the extreme challenges of securing housing with housing vouchers results in apartments sitting empty while people languish in shelter or inappropriate housing. Each year in New York, thousands of vouchers go unused even as individuals average 13 months in shelter and families stay sheltered more than two years.
Anthos|Home is working with City agencies, private funders, nonprofits and housing providers—and with the input of many individuals with lived experience—to improve the voucher process and to create a new way home for homeless and at-risk New Yorkers.
Homes
New Yorkers
The Solution
The Flex Pool Model sets aside flexible funding for a “whatever it takes” model of intensive supports to voucher holders to speed every aspect of the voucher-to-housing process, cutting through red-tape, matching households directly to apartments that are inspected and pre-approved, and reducing risk and inconvenience for housing providers. Aftercare services and 24/7 availability for both households and housing providers after move-in ensure successful relationships and housing stability and help voucher holders to focus on their own goals and aspirations.
Anthos|Home worked with both public and private partners to establish the Flex Pool Model to meet the particular challenges of New York City’s housing crisis.
Our goal is to reduce homelessness in New York City by achieving:
FASTER MOVE-INS
We support households through a streamlined process, get them housed and reduce their time in shelter and the trauma of homelessness and housing insecurity.
INCREASED HOUSING OPTIONS
Anthos|Home works to increase the options for voucher holders and grow the amount of affordable housing available by being a trusted and effective partner to housing providers.
IMPROVED HOUSING RETENTION
Our matching process, aftercare and 24/7 availability help ensure individual and family success and housing stability.
IMPROVED OUTCOMES
Housing supports health and safety for voucher holders, and makes it possible for them to work toward new goals like education, employment, family and more.
“The home is the wellspring of personhood. It is where our identity takes root and blossoms, where as children, we imagine, play, and question, and as adolescents, we retreat and try.
As we grow older, we hope to settle into a place to raise a family or pursue work. When we try to understand ourselves, we often begin by considering the kind of home in which we were raised.”
– MATTHEW DESMOND, EVICTED
Our Name
Our name was inspired by the above quote from Matthew Desmond’s impactful book, Evicted.
Anthos is Greek for "blossom."
Our goal is to see people rooted in stable housing so they can grow and thrive.