Amy Krulik: How hope n door Keeps Families Housed

Preventing Eviction, Restoring Dignity: A Conversation with Amy Krulik of hope+door

“Don’t give up.” That’s the throughline of this episode. Sterling Brown sits down with Amy Krulik, Executive Director of hope+door, an organization that prevents eviction by stepping in at the most vulnerable moments—when a medical crisis, job loss, or unexpected expense threatens a family’s home.

Amy draws on 25+ years in social services (including leading a Philadelphia hunger-relief agency) and breaks down:

• Why early intervention matters—and how asking for help is a strength, not a failure.
• How hope+door centers families with school-age children to prevent educational setbacks and break intergenerational cycles of eviction.
• The application process (simple, compassionate, and landlord-verified) and why most approvals wrap in about a week.
• What happens if you don’t qualify: customized resource lists (down to local congregations and legal aid) so “no” becomes “here’s the next step.”
• The bigger picture: costs of eviction, the rental “ecosystem,” and why community awareness can stop a crisis before it starts.

Sterling also shares his own experience: when he couldn’t work during rehabilitation, hope+door helped stabilize his family—and restore dignity.

Need help or want to support?

• Website: hopeanddoor.org
• Email: info@hopeanddoor.org
• linkedin.com/in/amy-krulik-6982158
• Facebook/ Instagram:  @hopeanddoor 
• Phone: 484-320-3277

hope+door—small grants, big impact, and a reminder: you’re not alone.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meeting Amy Kulik and Hope Endure
• 4:32 The Core Mission of Hope Endure
• 8:25 Understanding Human Struggles and Resilience
• 15:25 The Application Process Explained
• 22:44 Measuring Success Through Housing Stability
• 26:23 Housing Barriers and Cost Challenges
• 33:16 Understanding Rent Increases and Eviction Costs
• 39:05 Community Awareness and Early Intervention
• 47:38 Supporting Hope Endure's Mission
• 52:01 Final Thoughts on Resilience

Transcript

Sterling: 0:19
Hello, wonderful people! More than half of low-income renters say they couldn’t afford an unexpected $500 emergency. Now imagine that emergency is your rent, your child’s hospital bill, or a sudden job loss—and the clock is ticking. That’s the reality Amy Krulik shows up for every day. As Executive Director of hope + door, Amy brings over 25 years of nonprofit experience to a mission that’s as urgent as it is personal: helping families avoid eviction.

Sterling: 0:49
When life hits hard—whether it’s no-fault job loss or a medical crisis—Amy meets people at their most vulnerable moments with compassion and action. I know this because I lived it. During rehabilitation, when I couldn’t work, Amy and her team stepped in for me and my family. That kind of support doesn’t just pay bills; it restores dignity. Her leadership goes beyond transactions. It’s about hope—about helping families rewrite their story before it’s too late. Amy Krulik isn’t just running a nonprofit; she’s opening doors when people believe none exist.
Amy, thank you for coming on the Struggle2Success Podcast. It’s truly an honor and a privilege to have you. How did you get involved with hope + door?

Amy Krulik: 1:39
I’ve spent a good part of my professional career in nonprofits, largely on the social-services side. I ran a hunger-relief agency in Philadelphia for 10 years. We operated a home-delivered food program and fed about 6,000 people in Philadelphia every month.
In full transparency, I was headhunted for this job. An executive search firm was hired to find a new executive director. If you know the field, they cast a wide net and ask, “Are you interested—or do you know someone who might be?” I thought I knew every social-service agency in the Philadelphia area, and here was this resource I didn’t know about—one that could have helped so many families we were feeding. A year later, I found myself the executive director of hope + door.

Amy Krulik: 2:36
It was great timing for me, personally and professionally. I like to say I’m having a little too much fun most days figuring things out.

Sterling: 2:48
Well, you know the saying: if you’re having fun, it’s never a day of work.

Amy Krulik: 2:52
Exactly—and if you’re having fun helping people, keep having fun.
One thing to note: when there’s an eviction on your record, some landlords won’t rent to you. You don’t want to saddle someone with that kind of black mark on their credit history. Without stable housing, it’s hard to keep a job and manage everything else.

Amy Krulik: 4:10
Our focus is families with school-age kids because the impact on children is immediate and long-term. If they have to change schools mid-year, they lose their friend group and support network—and often lose at least three months of academic progress. The statistic that hits me most: a child who experiences eviction is about 70% more likely to be evicted as an adult. This is about changing the trajectory for the next generation.

Amy Krulik: 4:56
Our core mission stays the core mission. Over the last year, we’ve also worked not to be a dead end for people who don’t qualify. Some applicants haven’t lived in their apartment long enough, or they don’t have children—there are eligibility requirements. When we say “we’re not the right fit,” we still arm people with a customized list of local resources—down to the church around the corner that might help. AI has made creating those lists much easier because we’ve written strong prompts.
We also refer to labor lawyers when needed. We had someone inappropriately terminated due to a documented learning disability; we connected them with a labor lawyer, and they settled for $800,000.

Amy Krulik: 6:45
I’ve been doing this work for over 30 years. Part of it is experience talking to people—I genuinely find people interesting. I get filled up from those interactions. And you bring your own life experiences.
About 15 years ago, my husband was diagnosed with a rare form of thyroid cancer—he’s fine now—but it was incredibly disruptive. We had benefits and time off, and it was still really hard. Many families don’t have that social capital—friends and family to lean on emotionally or financially.

Amy Krulik: 8:01
When you realize how hard it was for us, you can’t help but think, “How much harder is it for families without support?” If you’re taking unpaid time off, can’t pay rent, can’t buy food, can’t drive your kids to school—it all compounds.

Sterling: 8:32
To emphasize that, I made a checklist of things I needed to do. When I couldn’t do them anymore, reality hit. I couldn’t take my youngest to preschool because I needed gas to get to therapy.

Amy Krulik: 8:50
That’s the reality. Years in hunger relief taught me to make people’s stories my own—you can’t help it. We get to know our applicants and their families; we stay invested and often check in afterward.
I also sit on two boards: one is a youth media and health-education program serving low-income districts in Philly and Norristown; the other is a free-loan program offering interest-free, no-fee loans.

Sterling: 9:43
Okay—got it.

Amy Krulik: 9:44
We’re constantly absorbing stories. Just when we think we’ve heard the wildest circumstances, the next person arrives with something that changes how we see the world. If we can help people turn that corner and see the next possibility, we’re doing our job.

Sterling: 10:14
You mentioned the ’90s versus now. Do you see more people needing help—and are people more willing to ask?

Amy Krulik: 10:25
It’s a double-edged sword. Needs ebb and flow with the economy and unemployment. The world is more complicated now—how people get and share information has changed. People have access to information but don’t always use it to their greatest benefit. TikTok isn’t always accurate.
Asking for help can be easier now because so much happens electronically—you don’t always have to talk to someone.

Sterling: 11:40
Your application process was calm and respectful. As someone in law enforcement, I didn’t feel judged. It was simple, and I felt I could communicate with your team and reach a positive outcome. That matters—people need to feel invited into the process at any age or stage.

Amy Krulik: 12:14
Exactly. Many who reach out to hope + door have never needed help before. About 60% of our applicants have attended college or are college-educated. For many, student loans are the only “help” they’ve ever sought. If you told them to apply for food stamps, they wouldn’t know where to start.
I had a dad tell me, devastated, “I don’t even know how to ask for help.” I told him: this isn’t lifetime support—this is your community being here for you. He’s the guy who changes neighbors’ tires and oil; his wife cooks for families in crisis. This is the community giving back when they need help.

Sterling: 13:35
That’s a beautiful way to see it. And you can always pay it forward.

Amy Krulik: 13:39
Exactly. It’s not about money—it’s about being available to someone else the way you need others now.
This dad was a veteran, injured in the line of service. He felt he should be able to provide for his family. They had a three-year-old; his wife was pregnant. They planned for 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, saved money, and he’d use PTO after the birth. During delivery, she hemorrhaged and almost died; an emergency hysterectomy followed. He needed to be home.
Who could have written that script? They did everything right—and then life threw a curveball. We helped them through it. Everyone’s back to work; the baby is healthy at three months; and their four-year-old recently said the classic sibling line—“send the baby back”—which mom took as a sign life was finally back to normal.

Sterling: 15:52
What does the typical process look like when someone reaches out for support?

Amy Krulik: 15:57
Go to hopeanddoor.org. Click Apply (top right) and follow the prompts. We’re transitioning to a new application platform to make it even easier—it's 2025; it should be friendly.
We ask for basics: name, address, landlord contact, what happened (why you need rent support), and supporting documents. After you submit, we contact your landlord for your lease and rent ledger—and the ledger doesn’t lie. If you’ve been a great tenant, the ledger shows it.

Sterling: 17:01
Let’s be transparent and honest.

Amy Krulik: 17:04
Right. If we have questions, we’ll ask for clarification or documentation. Our mindset when we open any application is to say yes—prove to us why we should say no.
If you don’t meet eligibility, we decline. If you do, we send it to our independent review committee (multifamily-housing professionals and some board members) as a final check. If staff recommends “yes,” they agree about 99% of the time.
If everyone responds quickly, the process takes about a week. On average, with delays, about 13 days. Our new application uses conditional logic to gather more info upfront and automatically emails landlords for the lease and ledger, which should speed things up.

Sterling: 19:01
If a family doesn’t qualify for hope + door, how else can you help?

Amy Krulik: 19:09
We build a customized local resource list using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude with prompts we’ve refined. We also explain what to expect when calling agencies that offer case management—Salvation Army, United Way, Catholic Charities, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, etc.
We refer people to nonprofit credit-counseling partners to get their financial house in order. There are also disease-specific resources (e.g., cancer-support orgs). Our lists include what an agency does, phone, email, website, and—when possible—who to ask for.
We’ll also ask if you’re active in a church, synagogue, or mosque. Many clergy have discretionary funds for congregants—people don’t realize that.
Recently we helped a domestic-violence survivor in Connecticut connect with local supports. We all have to work together.
We also coordinate with 2-1-1 (run by United Way in most areas), which is like the 9-1-1 of social-service information.
Sometimes we see applications in clusters—right now, lots from Grain Valley, Missouri. Word spreads among community managers. When that happens, we deep-dive local resources so we can point people to what actually helps.

Sterling: 22:56
How does hope + door measure success?

Amy Krulik: 23:03
We sit at the intersection of landlords and tenants. Our rent-grant funds go directly to landlords to bring the tenant’s balance to zero—to right the ship. It’s a delicate ecosystem: landlords must maintain properties; tenants must pay rent. If one part fails, the whole system strains.
We survey recipients about nine months after a grant. The average renter stays in an apartment just under two years. Ninety percent of our grant recipients are either still in the same unit or have moved to a larger apartment a year after receiving help.

Sterling: 24:29
Why do people move if the average stay is two years?

Amy Krulik: 24:37
Often for positive reasons—new job, higher income, closer to work, larger family, better amenities. Younger renters move more; older renters stay longer. Our goal is moves by choice, not forced relocations. About 7% still move due to eviction—but that means 93% are stable. I’ll take that win.

Sterling: 26:36
What are the biggest barriers to stable housing, and how do you navigate them?

Amy Krulik: 26:46
Cost and availability. Rent should be 30% or less of household income, but when you add preschool childcare, rent + childcare can exceed 50%—leaving little cushion for emergencies.
Availability is another issue. Some markets simply don’t have enough units. Application fees are a barrier too—many properties charge ~$50 per application, and denials add up. Check out Tyrone Poole’s TED Talk and his company OneApp, which helps reduce those costs.
Parents also prioritize quality schools and community resources, which narrows options. In places like Philadelphia, lots of luxury units are being built; that doesn’t help entry-level workers.
Another challenge: recent HUD funding cuts to Section 8 vouchers will have ripple effects across housing.

Sterling: 29:44
How should renters think about rent increases?

Amy Krulik: 29:56
First, the 30%-of-income guideline matters. Some landlords assess whether you can realistically afford the unit. Also, the cost of doing business rises—taxes, staff wages, health insurance, maintenance (landscaping, fire-suppression checks, etc.). During COVID, rents dropped in some places due to low demand; now, scarcity pushes prices up. Companies use data and algorithms to price units.
Evictions are extremely expensive for landlords—on average around $7,000 in the U.S. when you add lost rent, court costs, unit “turn” costs, and the 70 days (on average) it can take to re-rent. Our average grant is just under $3,000, saving the industry significant money by preventing evictions.
Housing is the biggest expense for most families—so it’s also costly to provide. In high-demand markets (NYC, San Francisco, Center City Philly), rents are sky-high because the market bears it, which can push some people out.

Sterling: 35:29
It comes back to understanding the ecosystem. I hope viewers connect with you and your team. What role does community awareness play in preventing eviction before crisis?

Amy Krulik: 36:00
Share the info—tell friends, family, even the person in front of you at the grocery line. We’re doing outreach to property-management companies and getting listed with social-service agencies.
Most people know when the wheels are getting shaky. Don’t ignore the noise—reach out early. Some people call in July saying they may struggle with August rent. We’ll start the application, then request the ledger on August 1 so it reflects lateness, and we can move quickly. Early intervention helps keep you from falling too far behind.
Many applicants aren’t used to asking for help. Sometimes you can’t muscle through; the pile gets too deep. Early action lets you assemble options before things snowball. Think of it like a pit crew: we get the wheels back on so your family’s downtime stays limited.
Emergencies happen. A grandmother raising her grandson witnessed a smash-and-grab in Baltimore, tried to record the license plate, and was rammed by the suspects’ car—breaking her shoulder and leg. She couldn’t work for a while. We helped stabilize the family and connected her grandson with programs like the Police Athletic League. Middle school is tough; we made sure she was prepared. She worked the phones and left no stone unturned—we were grateful to be part of that story.

Sterling: 41:24
My chief once told me to understand the optics of events, not just the sound. In trauma, we want instant relief, but long-term thinking matters. I hear hope + door saying: we’ll help now and help you plan for the long run.

Sterling: 42:02
Even when I thought I was put together, you challenged me to look further down the road. Thank you. How else can people support hope + door?

Amy Krulik: 42:38
We’re a nonprofit—we live by contributions. Most of our funding comes from the multifamily-housing industry because it’s far cheaper to support prevention than to pay for eviction. Supplier partners (roofing, flooring, fire-suppression companies), and brands like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Sherwin-Williams, and Mohawk are sponsors. We’re a revolving door—money in, money out to families who need it. No gift is too small.
We also run Day of Hope with Berger Communities (our founders, Dan and Steve Berger). Staff donate $5 to dress down on the last Friday each month. Over a year, that adds up to roughly $15,000—about five families fully stabilized. Small dollars add up.
And yes, we welcome $50,000 donors too! If you want to host a hope + door day at your office, let me know—great team-building and impact.

Sterling: 45:07
For someone scared they might lose their home, you’ve covered process—what should they do mentally and practically to start?

Amy Krulik: 45:29
Tell one person—a household member or trusted friend—so you’re not carrying it alone. Have them hold you accountable: “Did you call hope + door? The county housing office?” Also tell your landlord. It feels counterintuitive, but many have seen this before and know resources. Some communities keep small discretionary funds to buy groceries or bridge short gaps.
Ask about programs like Flex, which pays your rent on the 1st and lets you repay in installments (for a small fee)—helpful for cash-flow timing.
Do some online research. Avoid denial—muscling through rarely works. Workers’ comp often replaces ~60% of income; sadly, supermarkets and gas stations don’t give 40% discounts. If you know a shortfall is coming, plan for the gap. Call us—we answer the phone and offer guidance, even if you don’t qualify. Many referral orgs nationwide do the same. The first step is admitting you might be in trouble.

Sterling: 49:38
And don’t give up. Agencies get overworked; things fall through the cracks. What I appreciate about hope + door is you don’t just close the door—you point people to the next option and follow through. That’s what Struggle2Success is about: life hits you, but don’t give up.

Amy Krulik: 50:39
Exactly. Some government programs shut down when funds run out. It’s frustrating. But there are other pockets of money—hidden gems. Don’t give up.

Sterling: 51:03
If you could leave listeners with one message about resilience and housing security, what would it be?

Amy Krulik: 51:09
Don’t give up. My grandmother said, “Don’t borrow trouble.” Stay focused on your situation and tune out the noise. That next call might be the one that turns the corner.
When we can’t help, we tell people not to despair—we’ll arm you with other tools. We’re part of an army of helpers. Resilience is believing in yourself and your responsibility to your family—then getting up the next day, one foot in front of the other. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

Sterling: 52:22
I love it. Amy, thank you for coming on Struggle2Success. How can people contact you?

Amy Krulik: 52:29
Visit hopeanddoor.org—that’s H-O-P-E-A-N-D-D-O-O-R dot org. Email info@hopeanddoor.org
or call 484-320-3277—that’s my direct line.

Sterling: 52:47
Did you come up with the name?

Amy Krulik: 52:52
An applicant who made a video for us—Jasmine—said it best: “You give people hope by opening doors for the future.” That captured the vision for the Bergers, our founders.

Sterling: 53:17
It’s catchy and it does what it’s supposed to do.

Speaker 3: 53:24
Thanks for checking out this episode of Struggle2Success. To connect with the show, email struggle2success.p@gmail.com. Like and subscribe so you never miss an episode. And remember: Life is trials—stay focused.