HomeFirst Services of Santa Clara County
HomeFirst™ is a leading provider of services, shelter, and housing opportunities to the homeless and those at risk of homelessness in Santa Clara County. We serve more than 4,000 adults, veterans, families, and youth each year at seven locations including our Boccardo Reception Center, which is the county’s largest homeless services center. We are relentlessly focused on helping people in need find and keep permanent housing.
OUR VISION: We envision a community in which everyone has a home.
OUR MISSION: HomeFirst confronts homelessness by cultivating people’s potential to get housed and stay housed.
HOMEFIRST’S OUTREACH TEAM PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS LOOKING TO CONNECT TO SUPPORT SERVICES. OUR TEAM CAN HELP FIND EMERGENCY SHELTER, SHOWERS, LAUNDRY, MEALS, MEDICAL SERVICES, CASE MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYMENT TRAINING, AND MORE.
Our Programs & Services are Represented in Two Key Areas
Emergency & Permanent Housing
Emergency Housing
Shelter Programs: Emergency placement, typically in a congregate setting for people seeking shelter right now.
Street-Based Services: Outreach and street case management efforts support the unsheltered by offering resources, linking to services, and encouraging shelter. Outreach is also tasked with locating people when selected for housing programs.
Interim Housing: Temporary housing opportunities in private or semi-private units not intended for a permanent stay.
Permanent Housing
Rapid Rehousing (RRH): Program offering time-limited rental assistance and services designed to support people with housing navigation and stabilization. The participant becomes responsible for rent at end of the program. Our teams build relationships with local landlords to fulfill the needs of this program.
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH): A model that combines low-barrier affordable housing, health care, and supportive services to help individuals with a disability in achieving housing stability.
Prevention & Early Intervention: Strategizes to slow the influx of individuals and families entering homelessness and quickly resolves housing crisis for newly unhoused persons. This is typically done with one-time or very short-term intensive case management.
Looking for Services?
Call the Here4You Hotline: 408-385-2400
Homelessness Prevention Services: 408-786-8538 or [email protected]
Program Highlights
Boccardo Reception Center (BRC)
The BRC is the is the largest homeless service center in Santa Clara County, serving 250 adults nightly. It operates year-round, 24 hours a day, providing shelter and transitional housing as well as a wide array of critical services.
Emergency Interim Housing (EIH)
EIH- Provides temporary sleeping cabins, often called ‘tiny homes’ for the City’s most vulnerable houseless people, as an emergency COVID-19 response. Units for single adults and couples have individualized climate control, a bathroom with a shower, shared amenities such as laundry facilities, kitchen/pantry/dining hall, computer lab, dog run, container gardens, on-site support, and more.
Veterans Services
At the BRC, we offer the most comprehensive services for homeless veterans in the County, including mental health counseling, employment placement, emergency shelter, transitional housing, and support for families of veterans who are at risk of homelessness.
Sunnyvale Family Shelter
Sunnyvale Family Shelter is open year-round and serves up to 140 individuals and families nightly. The shelter operates on a referral basis, and all guests can receive a variety of case management and support services.
Bridge Housing Communities (BHC)
We are excited to announce a pilot program in partnership with the City of San Jose -the Bridge Housing Communities (BHC). HomeFirst’s (BHC) Program provides safe and secure interim housing to eligible individuals referred through Santa Clara County and City of San Jose programs. Participants receive an array of on-site supportive services and access to resources needed to build a lifestyle of self-sufficiency.
Outreach
We have the largest outreach program for people living on the streets and in encampments in San Jose. Each day, our team distributes necessary supplies and information to those who are unsheltered within the city of San Jose and helps to resolve issues that prevent individuals from getting housed.
Cold Weather Programs
HomeFirst has operated Santa Clara County’s Cold Weather Shelter Program (CWSP) for nearly three decades. During the 2022 winter season, you will find a CWSP in Mountain View, CA. The program is activated from late November to April each year. Individuals can self-refer.In partnership with the City of San Jose, we are the service provider for two Overnight Warming Locations (OWLs) that operate throughout Winter that offers emergency assistance to those who do not have shelter placement.
Family Living Centers
At the Sobrato Family Living Center in Santa Clara and the Boccardo Family Living Center in San Martin, we provide permanent housing services and more for families across the county.
We operate the Sobrato House Youth Center for transitional aged youth (18-24) in downtown San Jose and partner with Bill Wilson Center to support young adults living in the community who have aged out of the foster care system.
TRUST Field Response Program
TRUST is a community service that helps Santa Clara County residents during an urgent mental health or substance use situation. Our call center and field response teams are available 24/7 to answer calls for help. TRUST stands for “Trusted Response Urgent Support Team.” It is a partnership between three social service agencies in Santa Clara County: Momentum for Health, Pacific Clinics, and HomeFirst. Our team is specially trained to help people who need urgent help for mental health and substance use conditions.
TRUST’s team of responders includes behavioral health staff from community organizations. These staff have knowledge and experience assisting people struggling with behavioral health
challenges.
Our field response team works together to meet the unique needs of each person and those around them. We treat every situation on a case-by-case basis, providing responsive care without involving
law enforcement and triaging other teams when needed.
Coordinated Entry System – Sonoma County
Starting April 2022, HomeFirst assumed management of the Coordinated Entry System* for Sonoma County, building on the exceptional efforts of Catholic Charities, which had previously filled this role. To lead the work of this new initiative for HomeFirst, they found an internal candidate, Hunter Scott, who has deep knowledge of Sonoma County along with extensive experience working in this service arena.
*Coordinated Entry is a streamlined system designed to efficiently assess the needs and strengths of any person experiencing or at imminent risk of becoming homeless and effectively connect them to housing solutions.
For nearly 30 years, we have provided cold weather shelter for Santa Clara County at multiple locations including the BRC.