The startup that is piloting its refugee resettlement software platform in Lancaster is stepping up its collaboration with a national organization in a move that both entities say will facilitate the product’s development and promotion.
Last week, Refugee Housing Solutions announced fresh support for ReHome, an enterprise co-founded by Joe Landis, a former housing specialist for Church World Service Lancaster. The arrangement includes a little under $20,000 in seed funding.
- Previous coverage: A tech startup aims to streamline the refugee housing process, beginning in Lancaster
The money, which comes from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration, will help ReHome advance work on its flagship web-based landlord-tenant matching system.
While small, the grant is “a show of confidence that ReHome is on the verge of something that can scale up once fully tested and proven,” said Leslie Wilson, Refugee Housing Solutions’ associate director of special projects.
Refugee Housing Solutions is a consulting and advocacy organization, providing training and technical assistance to resettlement organizations, refugees, landlords and property managers. It is a spinoff of Church World Service, a global organization that is one of the United States’ 10 officially designated national resettlement agencies.
Refugee resettlement
The following are the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program’s designated National Resettlement Agencies:
- Bethany Christian Services
- Church World Service
- Episcopal Migration Ministries
- Ethiopian Community Development Council
- Global Refuge
- HIAS
- International Rescue Committee
- US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
- US Conference of Catholic Bishops
- World Relief
Source: U.S. Refugee Admissions Program
It was Landis’ experience with the challenging logistics of securing housing for newly arrived refugees at the CWS office in Lancaster that led him to launch ReHome with co-founder Zach Moring while in graduate school at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Refugees differ from other tenants in several significant ways. They usually arrive on short notice and don’t initially have jobs or credit scores. Too often, they end up biding their time in hotels for days or weeks while refugee agencies work on their behalf to overcome those barriers and find them a long-term lease.
Through ReHome, landlords and agencies can collaborate ahead of time, allowing for faster matches and move-ins. That’s better for refugees, who have stable housing right away, and better for landlords, who start receiving rent earlier.
ReHome “gives rental housing providers smooth connections to tenants in the refugee housing market — in the right places, at the right times,” said Nathalie Bousamra, Refugee Housing Solutions’ associate director for innovation and strategy.
CWS Lancaster is where ReHome launched the first test run of its platform. It was able to resettle a dozen households, each in less than seven days, saving CWS Lancaster more than $15,500 in housing search costs.
Landis and Moring envision achieving similar results across the U.S. resettlement landscape. The potential is great: All told, Church World Service and its nine peer resettlement agencies comprise more than 340 local offices and affiliates.
ReHome will have access to that network through Refugee Housing Services, which works extensively with all 10 agencies. The CWS affiliate will be able to advise ReHome on features to include and where to pilot the software next; and will be able to connect Landis and Moring directly with agency leaders and decision-makers.
Landis anticipates field-testing ReHome in four resettlement hubs next year, then hopes to roll it out to all 10 agencies in 2026. The full budget for development and release is around $300,000, he said.
Initially conceived as a limited liability corporation, ReHome has been reorganized as a nonprofit and is pursuing 501(c)3 certification. The LLC component will remain as a wholly owned subsidiary, an arrangement that will allow ReHome to sell real estate services to landlords. Profits resulting from those activities would flow back to the nonprofit to support its work, Landis said.
At the moment, fundraising remains the top priority, Landis said. Earlier this year, ReHome launched a campaign to raise $250,000, an amount that would allow Landis and Moring to hire a third full-time team member.
That would dramatically accelerate the development timeline, Landis said. He is visiting Lancaster later this month to meet with potential donors and hold several fundraisers.
In the long run, as he has said before, Landis hopes to grow ReHome into a clearinghouse for a wide range of services for refugees: not just housing, but education, jobs, translation services and more.
There is potential for Refugee Housing Solutions to provide additional grant funding down the road, as the ReHome platform proves its worth, Wilson said. She praised Landis and Moring for their commitment to helping refugees secure “dignified, affordable housing.”
“They have been as indefatigable as they have been creative,” she said.
