Laila Scott, Board Chair
Jordan Scott, Board Member
As a legacy of the RGK Foundation, Reissa is dedicated to the support of affordable housing in Texas with a focus on preventing child welfare system involvement. Building on the 50 years of grantmaking experience at RGK, we are engaged in listening, partnering, and catalytic funding to align our work with those directly impacted.
About the Initiative
Our work in Texas is focused foremost on listening to those impacted by the intersection of affordable housing and the child welfare system. We know no single foundation can bring about systems-level change on its own. We seek to collaborate with partner organizations, and aim to be innovative and catalytic in our grantmaking.
At this stage of our work, we emphasize:
- Listening
- Trust Based Relationships
- Reducing grant administration burdens
The Goal
We seek to engage with the diverse ecosystem of partners working on affordable housing in Texas to understand their priorities and challenges. Simultaneously, we strive to gain insights from the families and youth in Central Texas who have been affected by the dearth of affordable housing. By engaging with these stakeholders, our objective is to discover ways to foster collaborative efforts in generating more affordable, inclusive, and community-driven housing alternatives for families and youth throughout Texas.
Focus Areas
Our grantmaking in Texas is built on three pillars for understanding and supporting the affordable housing:
- Advocacy: Because systemic change requires awareness, we support organizations that educate on efforts and policies impacting affordable housing.
- Development and Financing: Because sufficient affordable housing inventory is foundational, we support the development and financing of partner organization projects with early stage, catalytic funding.
- Supportive Services: Because affordable housing is merely the starting point, we endorse an extensive range of supportive services crafted to assist families and youth in achieving their objectives and, crucially, prevent them from becoming entangled in the child welfare system.
20%
The percentage of foster kids who go through 4 or more placements in foster care
3
The average number of years kids are in the Travis County foster system
1,200
The number of kids who age out of Texas’s foster system every year
Grantees
Youth And Family Alliance
$100,000.00 through 9/30/24
LifeWorks Rapid Rehousing Program Support Services