It was like turning on a fire hose. And we were sitting there when we turned the lights on, on the solution, seeing these applications just roll in. It got real really quickly. The enormity of what was about to happen set in.
Even though we see that every day, and we're able to help people every day, when you see it on screen and you see what it means to them, I mean, it's just super emotional.
Just watching the film, I mean, it's about DreamKey not wanting anyone to fall through the cracks. It's the story there on the screen of these women that made it happen, right? And just listening, offering up a solution, really, that keeps track of everything. But they were doing the real work.
We made about $75 million in rent relief payments through this program in our last fiscal year, and those are not usually too large, so it's over 11,000 households that I know that we assisted in our last fiscal year through this process.
In 2021, we were able to help 320 households experiencing homelessness into housing.
How does it make me feel? I mean, that's the why I do what I do, is to keep people from experiencing that kind of crisis that then impacts them potentially for the rest of their lives. So it feels really good to kind of be able to head that off.
There are a lot of emails that we've gotten that say, oh my gosh, thank you so much. I, you know, did not know how we were going to make it. It's great. I mean, you know, it's concrete evidence that what we do makes a difference.
Thousands, 20,000, and just all of them in the exact same position, all of them just looking for something, you know? You know, so often you just don't think there is hope, and in this case, you know, we were able to help, and I'm just so grateful.
It's still really humbling. We focus on impact, right, instead of the technology, right? Of course, we're bringing that technology, and we know these tools really well, but it's really the impact that we align on.
What may seem like not a big deal to me or to you or to anybody is a big deal to that person who's applying for assistance.
What I hope for is that we realize that housing should be a human right, that no one should be worried about the fact that, you know, they need a roof over their head, they should have that. That shouldn't be any parent's worry, is where does their kid sleep at night?
It makes me feel good. I don't think that I do it for me to feel good, though. I think part of it is like, yeah, I want to serve, like that's just what I know I'm supposed to do, and I'm just doing that. These experiences are just a cherry on top.