OneApp began its journey to breaking down barriers to housing because the founder literally lived the experience of those barriers.

Our founder Tyrone Poole experienced a tragedy — after an unexpected and unpreventable serious work accident, he found himself fighting for his life. He lost everything: his home, his car, and every possession. After nine months healing and back on his feet, he sought to build his life back. While he found grace and support through nonprofit organizations, the system blocked his every attempt to pull himself up. He wasted time and money getting denied everywhere, not really understanding what was holding him back or how to solve it. He needed more support, but from where?

Transparency was the first hurdle. Tyrone founded OneApp in 2015 and developed a search engine to give renters more transparency with the rental criteria that held him back. That evolved into offering OneApp Approval Assist, a second-chance approval assistance service for home-ready renters, after seeing that minor hiccups in criteria held people back. Approval Assist is part of OneApp Partnership, a suite of services offered to property managers to enable renters more access to housing without risk to the business of housing. Most recently, they extended and adapted this model with OneApp Greenlight, partnering with nonprofit organizations who support individuals with higher housing stabilization needs — just like Tyrone after exiting the hospital.

OneApp's mission is to house one million people by 2032. It's an audacious goal, and one worth every ounce of effort that its growing team spends to reach. They believe what has begun to stick as their mantra: hopeful futures begin with housing.