Keeping Homeless Families Off of the Streets

Housing and Homelessness

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

As Founder/Executive Director of SOFESA, I have 7 years of lived experience of everything homelessness entails (I lost 2 kids on the streets) as well as 24 years of serving & accompanying the homeless here in Los Angeles. My understanding of the issue of homelessness is not just personal but relational. SOFESA has navigated the social services systems for over 2 decades now and our biggest job is advocating for our families and educating them on the paperwork, processes and transactions necessary for them to access the help available. We were doing this before the 2-1-1 CES and are still doing it. We understand not just the lived experiences of those who are homeless, but the experience of exiting homelessness, healing from previous traumas and developing a deeper understanding of the post-homeless life. We also know the needs of the local hound community and have found that in creating the healthy middle ground for the housed and unhoused to connect with one another is vital.

Emergency Outreach Program - makes initial contact with homeless families and provides for them all of their physical and relational needs. How program helps the unhoused family: *provides immediate relationship/support *provides immediate physical/material support (shelter, food, etc) *provides entrance into a long term healthy familial relationship that is always there for them constant wraparound support) How program helps the local housed community: *provides opportunity for giving (time, talent, treasure) *provides data/experiences for education on lived experiences of homelessness which helps breaks myths and eliminates the "NIMBY" mentality *provides a safe place for the local community to interact and been relationship with the unhoused neighbors in there community

Our Emergency Outreach Program approach is relational, not transactional. In the past 24 years of accompanying homeless persons, especially families, we have found that entering into healthy, lifelong relationships with those experiencing homelessness creates a sense of stability and belonging that allows them an opportunity to heal and make different decisions for themselves and their circumstances. Los Angeles county would look very different if we implemented our model of care, which is local community based and involves the housed in relationship with the unhoused. At the center of homelessness is a person, not a house. People deserve healing, they are not a problem to solved. What would LA County look like if outreach programs engaged in that type of model of care? definitely a lot healthier than what is happening now, that's for sure!

Our Emergency Outreach Program is working to address the problem of access to resources and housing retention by being the one healthy relationship for the family. The impact shows by who we are hiring to continue the mission - previously unhoused persons. Success is healthy long term relationships that affect healing and change in peoples lives. Success for our Outreach Program is having families off of the streets and sheltered during thus time frame. That data will be collected and maintained to be shared at the end of the grant period.