Southwest Florida's housing lifeline
You don't have to face homelessness, eviction, or foreclosure alone.
AHF has spent 26 years helping thousands of Southwest Florida families find stable, safe, affordable housing, and the free counseling to stay there.
Who we help
Not sure if we can help you? We probably can.
Most people who call AHF waited longer than they should have. If you're dealing with any of the situations below, reach out now. Earlier is always better.
I need housing help
Facing eviction, foreclosure, or homelessness. Don't know where to turn or whether you qualify? Call us anyway. Low income and credit history are not disqualifiers.
I want to donate
Government grants that once covered 95% of AHF's costs are gone. Your donation now directly funds free counseling, transitional housing, and crisis assistance for families with nowhere else to turn.
I want to volunteer
Help move families out of homelessness, deliver hurricane supplies during storm season, assist residents with daily tasks, or simply spread the word about what AHF does.
Real people, real outcomes
This is what stable housing actually changes.
Not just a roof. A life. These are two of the thousands of families AHF has helped over 26 years.
"AHF never gave up on me. When the voucher expired, they helped me reapply. When I got turned down, they kept looking. Three years later, I had my own apartment."
"We didn't know where we were going to go. AHF found us this home just in time. Our kids finally have a safe place to grow up."
Images are AI representations to protect the privacy of the individuals. The stories are 100% true.
Why your support is critical right now
The funding that kept AHF running for decades is gone.
For most of our 26-year history, government grants covered roughly 95% of AHF's operating costs. That funding has dried up. The families we serve haven't gone away, the need is greater than ever, but the financial foundation we relied on no longer exists.
AHF has never had a large donor base. We never needed one. Now we do. For the first time in our history, the continuation of every free counseling session, every transitional housing placement, and every family we help avoid homelessness depends entirely on the generosity of individual donors and community partners.
The people AHF serves are the most vulnerable in our community. They have no safety net. When AHF can't operate, there is nowhere else for them to go. This is not a fundraising talking point. It is the reality we are living right now.
A word from our executive director
What keeps me up at night
"I see faces of people on the streets and wonder: why haven't they gotten help? Have they applied anywhere, or have they given up hope?"
For 26 years, AHF has been reaching people in crisis and changing the course of their lives. But for every Nigel we find housing for, there are people we never reach in time. People who froze when fear set in. People who assumed they wouldn't qualify. People who called everywhere and got no answer, and simply stopped calling.
What I see on our streets is people surviving day to day without the stability of a home. People walking day after day, dirty, hungry, isolated, their mental health declining from the violence and instability of life without a home. Many of them could have been reached. Many still can.
That is why AHF exists. And it is why your support (your donation, your volunteer hours, your referral to someone who needs us) matters more than you know.
Our programs
We do more than most people realize.
AHF offers a full range of housing counseling and assistance programs, all free to clients.
First-time homebuyer classes
Pre and post-purchase counseling
Eviction prevention
Before it reaches a courtroom
Credit and budget counseling
Know your score and fix it
Foreclosure prevention
HUD-certified counselors
Military and veteran housing
Specialized counseling and programs
Disaster preparedness
Pre and post-storm counseling
Senior and disabled housing
Vouchers, subsidies, placement
Transitional housing
Furnished, stable, supportive
All counseling is free. The only cost is a $31 credit report fee when needed to assess your situation, and for very low-income clients, we cover that too. In-person appointments available in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, Glades, and Sarasota counties. Zoom appointments available statewide.
How it works
Getting help is simpler than you think.
Most people are surprised by how quickly AHF can assess their situation and get to work. Don't wait until the deadline is on top of you.
Call or fill out the online intake form
Call, email, or complete the form at your own pace, whatever is easiest.
Tell us what's going on
No judgment. We'll ask what you need help with and what caused your hardship, and listen.
We send you a document checklist
Once we understand your situation, we'll tell you exactly what to bring to your appointment.
We get to work and we don't let go
If the first path doesn't work, we find another one. We've reapplied for vouchers. We've found housing others said didn't exist.
What clients say
"How come no one else does what you do?"
Real words from the people AHF has served.
"I thought I died and went to heaven."
"You don't know how your organization and your housing has saved my life."
"You have changed my life. How long have you been in business? I never knew your organization existed."
Accreditations
26 years. HUD-certified. Community-trusted.
AHF has been in operation since October 2000 and HUD-approved since May 2013. We are not a large bureaucracy. We're a lean, deeply experienced team that takes on cases others won't touch and stays with them until they're resolved. Two years ago, the Lee County Board of County Commissioners featured AHF's housing program as a model for ending homelessness in Lee County. Here's who stands behind our work.
Make a donation
Give housing to someone who has none.
Every dollar you give funds free counseling, transitional housing, and crisis assistance for families who have run out of options, and in many cases, run out of time.
AHF has done this work for 26 years on very little. With government funding gone, we are asking our community to step in. Whatever you can give makes a direct, immediate difference to a real person in Southwest Florida.
Volunteer
Show up for your community.
We need people with time, not just money. Too many people in Southwest Florida don't know AHF exists, and too many people who could be helped never call. Volunteers help us reach more people, serve more families, and stay ready when disaster strikes.
Moving assistance
Help move individuals and families out of homelessness and into their new homes.
Disaster response
Deliver hurricane supplies and assist with disaster case management throughout storm season.
Home support tasks
Help residents in AHF housing with simple everyday tasks they can't manage alone.
Spread the word
Too many people don't know AHF exists. Help us change that in your neighborhood and network.