Program Description:  The 24/7 year-round family shelter offers ten private units, on-site case management, mental health support, and children’s programming, providing a dignified, trauma-informed environment where families can stay together while receiving  the support needed to transition into stable housing.

Results & Challenges: The grant supports the salaries of personnel in this program, help with utility payments and help with certain food costs. These supported its 3 primary objectives:

Objective #1 — Sheltered 30 families (43 adults, 58 children)

Objective #2 – 20% of families transitioned to permanent housing, 45% to transitional/temporary housing, and 23% to other shelters.

Objective #3 – All 58 housed children in the past 12 months received behavioral health assessments, counseling, and age-appropriate activities, including art therapy and educational outings, which supported them in their healing from the trauma of homelessness.

Key challenges include insufficient, affordable and family-appropriate housing units, long wait times for public housing programs, families facing barriers such as poor credit or limited income history and shelter demand exceeding available capacity.

To address these issues, Interfaith Services created a Family Outreach and Diversion Specialist role to support waitlisted families and reduce shelter demand. Extended shelter stays (up to 6+ months) and post-exit case management were  implemented to provide continued support.

Future Plans for Sustainability: Interfaith Services works with organizations such as the Regional Taskforce on Homelessness (Coordinated Entry System), 2-1-1 San Diego, Alliance for Regional Solutions, North County homeless outreach teams, local school district liaisons, North County shelters (e.g. Brother Benno’s, Operation Hope, Oceanside Navigation Center), landlord and property managers, and other community-based organizations.

Additionally, Interfaith Services is working in partnership with Community Solutions’ Built for Zero team and the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness to launch the first regional By-Name List for families in North San Diego County.