A city program is helping keep Brooklyn families out of homeless shelters and in their own homes.

The Department of Homeless Services' (DHS) HomeBase program, which runs an office out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, was started in 2004. According to the DHS, the program has helped more than 6,000 families and individuals since that time. About 94 percent of those people are still in stable homes, says the DHS.

HomeBase provides services before people are evicted. These services include landlord mediation, job training, housing relocation and financial assistance. The city plans to expand the program citywide by the end of July 2008.