At ReloShare, we understand the complex realities that social service providers face every day. That’s why we've assembled a team of industry experts—former shelter directors, nonprofit leaders, policy advocates, cybersecurity specialists, gender-based violence experts, and direct-service professionals—who have been exactly where Reloshare’s users are today.
In each installment of this series, you'll meet one of our team members, hear about their experiences, and learn actionable insights to enhance your community's emergency and transitional housing strategies. Best of all, Reloshare’s expertise is available to you free of charge as a Safe Stays or Grove customer.
Ready to rethink how your community approaches emergency housing?
→ Schedule a free consultation with our team today.
Paige Allmendinger — Chief Product Officer
Previous roles: See Paige’s full background and connect with her on LinkedIn.
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Tell us briefly about your professional journey in social services. How did you get started, and what roles have you held?
I got my start in social services during undergrad at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I majored in Psychology and minored in Women’s Studies. I took a course titled “Leadership in Violence Prevention,” which sparked my passion for gender-based violence work. I later became a teaching assistant for that course and helped UNC develop the bystander intervention curriculum One Act.
After graduating, I pursued my Master of Social Work (MSW). My first internship was with Cornerstones, a large housing and homelessness services organization in Northern Virginia, and my second was with the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence. These experiences solidified my interest in the intersection of housing and domestic violence.
I then spent the early years of my professional life working at a shelter program with Cornerstones, serving as a case manager and an intake coordinator for a family and singles shelter within the organization. Later, I joined DC Safe, a 24/7 crisis domestic violence service provider, leading training for both internal teams and external partners (including law enforcement and child and family services). In that role, I oversaw emergency housing placements for survivors, using both our in-house facilities and hotels when our shelter was at capacity.
At times, it took hours to finalize hotel accommodations, often in the middle of the night, because I had to physically check in survivors with my own ID and company credit card. It could take up to five hours just to get a survivor into a safe hotel stay.
After DC Safe, I moved into consulting, helping with quarterly data reporting for the DC Office of Victim Services & Justice Grants, and coordinating the development of a 40-hour sexual assault advocate credentialing program with Volare, a DC-based crime victim nonprofit. From there, I transitioned to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Victim Services Division, where I developed policies and procedures for responding to victims in mass casualty events—work that eventually expanded statewide. I also supported the Community Violence Department within the DA’s Office and handled grant applications, budget planning, and implementation for VOCA and VAWA funding.
Later, I joined ReloShare and continued for a brief period consulting for ICF on their Improving Community Preparedness to Assist Victims of Mass Violence or Domestic Terrorism initiative, working with Spokane County in Washington to strengthen their response plan for mass violence victims.
Describe how you first encountered ReloShare’s products. What problem were you looking to solve at that time?
While I was working at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. I had already been collaborating with the San Francisco City and County Department of Emergency Management on mass violence planning and knew that the demand for domestic violence shelter beds would skyrocket during pandemic lockdowns. San Francisco already had often fewer beds that were sought, and those shortages were only going to intensify in a public health crisis. We secured funding to expand our local nonprofits’ resources, but almost every SF hotel was already in use to house people experiencing chronic homelessness.
During a call with other cities facing the same challenge, I met Amanda Pyron from The Network in Chicago. She told me about her work with ReloShare and how they used corporate housing to serve survivors of domestic violence. This introduction changed everything.
When I first spoke with Matt Singley and John Moats, ReloShare’s co-founders, they explained how they’d successfully partnered with Chicago’s corporate housing providers to create more shelter options for The Network. Matt, who also co-founded Pinnacle Furnished Suites, brought deep corporate housing expertise, while John, an experienced developer from companies like Oracle, had pivoted to become Pinnacle’s system architect before they officially launched ReloShare in 2020. Their initial goal was to streamline corporate housing bookings for relocation professionals, but once COVID shut down corporate travel, many furnished units sat empty. After reading about the need for expanded survivor housing in Chicago, Matt contacted Amanda to pilot the idea of repurposing those units. It was a success there, but Pinnacle didn’t have properties in San Francisco. Fortunately, Matt’s broad network of corporate housing contacts allowed them to stand up new inventory and a custom booking platform for San Francisco’s domestic violence providers.
While Matt and John built out the inventory and technology, I collaborated with seven local nonprofits that would book these units for survivors. I created policies, procedures, and training sessions to help them navigate the new platform. One of the most impressive features was ReloShare’s built-in accessibility. An advocate in San Francisco who had visual impairments was able to use the interface with ease—even in its earliest iteration. Seeing how responsive and inclusive the system was, right from the start, really underscored the power of a thoughtful tech solution for social services.
How did using ReloShare’s products help you scale or launch your housing programs?
Thanks to ReloShare, I worked with seven nonprofits in San Francisco to use newly secured funds for 30-day stays in furnished corporate housing units. In the early months of the pandemic, when service demand was through the roof, ReloShare’s resourcefulness and 24/7 check-in support were invaluable. Through this program, we began allowing survivors to book units without needing to present ID at check-in, which evolved into what’s now known as “Alias Approved” in the Safe Stays system. Recently, I spoke with one of our partner nonprofits who reminded me of a client who would have been homeless if not for the corporate housing we provided during that crisis.
What made this project so unique was that our office—the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office—does not operate housing programs. We support victims of crime, but we were not set up to provide housing or shelter services. Many of the domestic violence agencies we partnered with also didn’t have shelters. However, we knew survivors would seek help from whichever DV organization they trusted first. Our goal was to avoid sending them on a never-ending referral loop, especially during a time of immense upheaval. Meanwhile, traditional shelter providers were overwhelmed with heightened demand, plus less space within shelters due to social distancing protocols.
By leveraging ReloShare’s platform, these non-shelter agencies suddenly had the ability to become housing providers themselves. They could book corporate housing for their survivors directly and continue providing case management without handing them off to another agency. This continuity meant survivors didn’t have to retell their stories multiple times just to find safe housing.
For me, it was an eye-opening lesson: Given the right resources, agencies that don’t typically offer shelter can become effective housing providers, and deliver client-centered support in the process.
Why is it critical for social service agencies to develop robust emergency and transitional housing strategies today?
Emergency shelter is vital for many reasons, particularly for vulnerable communities – survivors of domestic violence, community violence, human trafficking, or sexual violence – who need an immediate, safe place to go. The window to leave an unsafe or life-threatening situation can be extremely narrow, and too often, survivors can’t find emergency shelter in time. According to the National Network to End Domestic Violence’s DV Counts report, thousands of survivors are turned away every day for lack of bed space.
Shelters may also be geographically unreachable or not inclusive of every population. Communal-living shelters often aren’t set up for LGBTQ individuals, men, multi-generational families, or people with pets. Historically, we’ve relied on brick-and-mortar shelters that require massive capital, ongoing maintenance, and staff resources, and they fill up quickly.
The status quo isn’t meeting agencies where they are. It’s crucial that agencies have access to flexible, survivor-centered options like hotels to meet a wider variety of people’s needs.
What’s one common challenge you see agencies facing, and what’s some advice to address it?
Using hotels to house survivors is still relatively new in many communities. During COVID, we saw more agencies adopting this model out of necessity, while that growth continued after the height of the pandemic. In 2024 alone, ReloShare supported over 250,000 nights of safe hotel stays. Over the years, Safe Stays has taught us a lot about best practices.
One frequent gap is around “hotel norms.” Many agencies, wanting to avoid condescension to survivors they serve, don’t thoroughly explain rules around noise levels, smoking, guest occupancy, etc. Meanwhile, survivors who are new to hotels may be unaware of these expectations, leading to conflicts with hotel staff. We often advise agencies to provide a simple orientation—like a quick FAQ or phone chat—outlining what to expect and what’s expected of the survivors before they arrive to the hotel.
Can you share a success story?
In early 2022, a small shelter program joined the Safe Stays platform. They’d recently inherited from their state government a statewide hoteling program—a residual initiative from COVID—but they had limited experience managing hotel placements. In the first couple of months, several hotels wanted to end the partnership because of issues with guests.
ReloShare stepped in as a liaison between the agency and the hotels. We organized meetings to address challenges, identified alternative hotel partners, and guided the agency on better guest support strategies. Nearly three years later, the program is still thriving—housing up to 20 survivors at a time, year-round. By advocating for both the hotels and the nonprofits, we helped establish a sustainable program that’s made a real difference for survivors.
What unique insights or strengths do you bring to the ReloShare team?
My experience in program development, implementation, and public-sector funding has been beneficial. I’ve managed large federal grants, so I understand the administrative requirements, budget constraints, and reporting responsibilities with which many agencies find challenging.
At ReloShare, I bridge the gap between for-profit resources and social sector needs—helping agencies feel comfortable working with a for-profit company they may not initially trust. I also help design policies, procedures, and user experiences that align with real-world social service challenges. Whether that’s navigating procurement rules or grant opportunities, I love applying expertise gained from my nonprofit and government experiences to help agencies launch or improve their own housing programs.
If an agency is hesitant to explore new housing tools, what advice would you offer?
As a field, social services have traditionally been divided into “housing providers” and “everyone else.” I’ve been the “everyone else” person calling shelter after shelter, feeling powerless to place a client in need. The pandemic forced us to innovate quickly. Now we have tools and models that just didn’t exist before.
Many culturally-specific or community-based organizations that do not directly offer shelter could expand their services to meet their clients' needs by running their own hotel-based programs, instead of relying on traditional shelters. Our team offers free consultations to guide organizations through developing a new program from scratch—covering everything from funding sources to best practices.
Housing remains one of the top unmet needs for survivors, so we need every creative, effective approach available.
Let’s Keep the Conversation Going
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