2026 Quarter 1 Performance Highlights
At ECHO, we remain committed to supporting people experiencing a housing crisis through services that are person-centered, dignified, and results-driven. Our Performance Measurement and Management (PMM) framework helps us stay accountable to that commitment by tracking how well we are meeting our goals, learning from challenges, and continuously improving our work.
Each quarter, we ask ourselves key questions:
- Are we helping our clients gain long-term stability?
- Are we moving people quickly into permanent housing?
- Are our services delivered with dignity and respect?
- Are we using our resources wisely?
- Are we protecting sensitive data and strengthening community engagement?
Here’s what we learned from Quarter 1 of 2026.
Results for Persons Served
We began 2026 with strong outcomes related to income and benefits:
- 39% of households increased their income, exceeding our annual target of 35%. This reflects continued success in helping households strengthen their financial stability as part of their housing journey.
- 37% of households gained or maintained non-cash benefits, such as SNAP or SSI. While slightly below our 40% target, this remains a solid foundation as we look for ways to further strengthen benefits access and retention throughout the year.
These results show meaningful progress toward long-term stability while highlighting areas where additional focus may help us reach even more households.
Efficiency and Access
Quarter 1 demonstrated strong housing placement outcomes, paired with an opportunity for improvement around speed:
- We moved 110 households into permanent housing, surpassing our quarterly goal of 100 and reflecting strong coordination across programs.
- The average time from enrollment to move-in was 51 days, above our target of fewer than 45 days. While this indicates room for improvement, it also provides valuable insight as we analyze barriers, seasonality, and system-wide factors affecting housing timelines.
We will use this data to refine processes and identify strategies to help households move into housing more quickly in future quarters.
Client Experience & Stakeholder Experience
Client experience continues to be a clear strength for ECHO:
- 100% of surveyed clients reported being treated with dignity and respect, exceeding our goal and reinforcing the importance of compassion, trust, and person-centered care in our work.
Stakeholder experience data was not collected this quarter, and we look forward to gathering feedback later in the year to better understand how partners and community members experience our services.
Organizational Priorities
Quarter 1 also brought notable progress in organizational and operational areas:
- We welcomed 224 new Facebook followers, far exceeding our quarterly goal and reflecting growing community awareness and engagement with ECHO’s mission and work.
- Our simulated phishing email failure rate improved to 4.64%, falling below our internal threshold of 5%. This shows progress in cybersecurity awareness following increased focus and training efforts.
Looking Ahead
Quarter 1 of 2026 highlights a strong start to the year, with clear successes in income growth, housing placements, client experience, and community engagement. At the same time, the data points us toward areas where continued attention—such as benefits access and time to housing—can further strengthen our impact.
We remain committed to using this information to guide learning, improvement, and innovation as we move forward.
Thank you to our dedicated staff, partners, funders, and supporters who make this work possible. Together, we continue helping people move toward stability and a place to call home.
