A two-year pilot program giving $1,000 monthly cash payments to young parents in Baltimore City yielded deep and meaningful benefits that lasted beyond the pilot period.
Now, a different sort of direct cash pilot program is expanding to Maryland with a focus on preventing youth homelessness.
Point Source Youth announced its Targeted Housing Assistance Program will come to Baltimore after new research from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health demonstrated a one-time direct cash payment can help prevent youth homelessness.
The research showed that 92% of 345 participants in the Point Source pilot program avoided homelessness for at least six months after receiving the support. The program is modeled after Washington state’s Homelessness Prevention and Diversion Fund, which has reported strong participant success at 12 months.
Point Source Youth and Thread intend to launch the program in Baltimore based on that success. The pilot took place in seven states of Point Source Youth’s Targeted Housing Assistance Program, with the goal of helping young people before a housing crisis becomes homelessness. The program participants included 345 youth households across Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, New York, Oregon, and Texas, impacting 623 people, including household members and dependents.
“These findings suggest that quick, tailored cash assistance with supportive services can keep young people housed and out of shelters,” said Larry Cohen, co-founder and executive director of Point Source Youth, in a statement. “Youth homelessness starts with a crisis and then becomes a long-term trauma because help arrives too late, if at all. That’s why we’re scaling this program immediately—expanding into ten new communities and launching new sites to translate these findings into action to keep young people securely housed and to prevent them from experiencing homelessness—right now.”
Point Source Youth does not simply hand over cash, however. Its program works with community-based organizations, like Threads in Baltimore, training the staff to work with the youth receiving the money to develop sustainable housing plans before they distribute the funds. The organization offers a variety of optional support services, like case management, financial coaching, housing navigation, and more. This way, the young people retain their autonomy while barriers to access to housing are reduced.
The program in Baltimore expects to help 35-40 young people belonging to the Thread community. Participants must be enrolled in Thread, between the ages of 17 and 27, and at imminent risk of losing housing. That risk might involve being kicked out of their current housing, living in an unsafe situation, or facing eviction from their landlord. Enrollment in the Point Source Youth program is underway now.
“For over two decades, Thread has remained committed to supporting young people in Baltimore who are the most impacted by structural barriers to success,” said Sarah Hemminger, co-founder and CEO of Thread, in a statement. “By putting cash in the hands of our young people experiencing housing instability, the Targeted Housing Assistance Program is more than just a transfer of money–it is a transfer of power. We are so thrilled to move forward together both in action and in the spirit of this work.”
Based on databases that track people who access homelessness services, records show 98% of pilot participants had not accessed homelessness services within three months of receiving the monetary support, and 92% had not done so within six months. Interviews were conducted with the youth participants to confirm that data and young people described the program as “responsive, practical, and affirming,” according to the press release from Point Source Press.
In addition to expanding the program to Maryland, Point Source Youth is launching new sites in Hawai’i, North Carolina, Maine, and Oklahoma, while expanding further in California, Michigan, New York, and Oregon. A total of $3,000,000 in direct cash payments to 1,000 young people in crisis with the aim of helping them avoid homelessness.
According to the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services (MOHS), and its 2025 Baltimore City Point-in-Time Count Report, the city recorded a 12% decline in homelessness from 2019 to 2024. From 2024 to 2025, however, those numbers were reversed, with homelessness rising 26.5%. MOHS attributed this to a lack of affordable housing, the increased cost of living, and the expiration of COVID-era rental protections and assistance programs provided by President Joe Biden’s administration. The report tracked youth homelessness (people aged 18–24 years) as decreasing by 9% between 2024 and 2025.
“The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation strives to fight poverty and build strong, vibrant communities where everyone can thrive,” said Amy Kleine, the foundation’s senior program director of housing, in a statement. “We are proud to support this program, which helps young people secure safe and affordable housing — and is guided by Baltimore’s young people.”
