Our Mission
To assist homeless women, children and families obtain stable housing through temporary shelter and services.
Our Vision
Pajaro Valley Shelter Services aspires to be a national model program that helps women, children, and families end the causes and cycles of homelessness - one family at a time. By lifting their dignity, identifying their barriers and helping to set their goals, homeless families will develop the skills and attitudes necessary to move on to stable housing and improved personal and economic self-sufficiency.
Our methods: teaching Care of Self, Family, Finances and Housing
Case Management and Bilingual Case Management
The majority of our clients are Latino/Hispanic (approximately 80 to 90%) and many do not speak English. Most resident families can be classified as "severely poor," defined as those families whose income is less than one-half the federal poverty threshold. Case management, and especially bilingual case management, is the key to helping families break a cycle of homelessness. Whether clients are in the Emergency Shelter or Transitional Housing Program, we help each family identify what led to their being homeless, connect them to services and resources in the community and develop strategies to stabilize their lives and start on a path to economic and personal self-sufficiency.
Partnering with client families in understanding and removing the barriers to stability demands intense interaction with them and celebration of each step along the way. In the creation of a team of staff that interacts with the families PVSS has focused on the skills that, over the many years of experience we have found affect client families' success. These skills are thematically classified as: 1) Care of Self, 2) Care of the Family, 3) Care of Finances, 4) Care of Housing. The initial and ongoing programmatic interactions with families focus on achieving the goals set with the family covering each of the skill sets. Each staff member has responsibility for one of the skill set areas.
Emergency Shelter for Homeless Women and Children
The Shelter is open 24 hours a day and families may reside in the Shelter for a maximum of 90 days. The Shelter's current capacity is 24 women and children who are generally referred to PV Shelter from other social service agencies, schools, civic and/or religious organizations.
There are occassionally density issues, and currently there is no capacity in the shelter for women with older male children (age is limited to 12 years old). PV Shelter is a collaborator with several community agencies to provide coordinated case management support. Shelter residents sign a contract to abide by strict program requirements. Shelter clients develop written individual life plans with their case manager to find jobs, housing, immigration assistance, counseling, education, language programs, parenting and budgeting skills and how to access community resources.
Each family is expected to save a substantial portion of their income from any source as well as establish at least five self-sufficiency goals. As a result of this "tough love" approach, 73% of Shelter families during the past year have moved to stable housing, 50% had savings upon their departure and 55% had met at least three of the five "self-sufficiency goals."
Transitional Housing for Homeless Families
The Transitional Housing Program consists of 16 units. Unlike public housing programs where families may live for decades, PV Shelter units are re-circulated approximately every 18 to 24 months to provide housing for many homeless families over time. The maximum allowable stay in the Transitional Housing Program is 24 months.
During their residency in the Transitional Housing Program, previously homeless families receive intensive case management as well as training in areas such as budgeting, job and parenting skills and methods to find stable housing. Similar to the Shelter, there is a "tough love" program in place.
Transitional Housing Program families also sign a contract to abide by strict program requirements. Each family member over the age of 18 develops a written individual life plan with their case manager. Non-compliance with program requirements can result in termination of the program contract. To date, PV Shelter is proud to say that 18 families from this program have become homeowners. During the past year, 100% of families completing the program have moved on to stable housing, 90% had savings and 90% met at least three of the five "self-sufficiency goals."