Mission

With a mission of “helping people transition to a better tomorrow,” Community Homeless Solutions (CHS) provides housing and supportive services to homeless families and adults, including women and children fleeing domestic violence, with the purpose of helping them to transition to stable, permanent housing.

Since opening the first domestic violence shelter in Monterey County in 1978, CHS has grown to operate two domestic violence emergency shelters, two emergency shelters, a navigation center, a respite care shelter, a youth transitional housing program, and a permanent supportive housing program for families. All our programs provide case management, housing navigation, referral, and supportive services to help participants improve their income situation, access benefits and services, and move on to stable, permanent housing.

Our Central Coast Respite Center offers shelter, meals, and services to homeless adults referred by three local hospitals. This 6-bed facility provides up-to-45 day stays to participants who receive continued medical oversight, nursing, home health care, and case management support that link them to services and housing. Almost two-thirds of participants have transitioned to stable housing (62%) and over a third increased their income (37%).

The agency’s two domestic violence shelters provide 30-90 day stays for women, men and their children fleeing domestic violence. Our Hamilton House shelter (16 beds) is located in Marina and Natividad Shelter (32 beds) is located in Salinas. Both operate 24/7. Shelter staff follow trauma informed care principles and work diligently to provide safe/confidential housing, create trust, provide peer support, collaborate with guests, empower clients, and offer culturally competent services. Almost all survivors exiting the shelters (90%) transition into stable and permanent housing.

The Chinatown Neighborhood Center is a bridge housing program located in Salinas’ Chinatown neighborhood. The Center is comprised of a Sprung Shelter and three 3-BR trailers to house up to 72 homeless men and women from the surrounding neighborhood. Case managers and housing navigators provide the supportive services needed for quickly placing them into stable, permanent housing. The Center is open 24/7 and provides food and shower/restroom access to shelter participants and shower/restroom access to locals. The Center is currently placing 5-8 participants into permanent housing each month.

CHS opened Serenity House, a transitional housing program in October 2022 to provide housing, case management and supportive services to youth experiencing homelessness. The Program serves four young adults, ages 18-24, including pregnant or parenting youth, for up to 24 months. Youth-focused case management and housing navigation services are provided to help participants with building life skills needed to achieve stability and independence, strong support systems, and a safe and permanent housing situation. Program staff will provide follow-up services to participants needing such support after leaving the Program.

New Beginnings is the agency’s permanent supportive housing program. It is comprised of 39 two-bedroom homes and currently houses 32 homeless families. The program provides supportive services designed to help participants remain housed and prevent their return to homelessness. Services are multidisciplinary and include case management, service/housing planning, assistance with obtaining benefits, documents, addressing health, behavioral health, SUD, and other needs, and linkages to needed services.

The H.O.M.E. Resource Center (HRC) is a year-round emergency shelter providing food, supportive services, and beds to accommodate 44 men and women experiencing homelessness. Located in San Benito County, the Center provides case management and housing navigation services to assist our guests with addressing the problems that led them to homelessness and to secure stable, permanent housing. The Center is currently placing 6-9 participants into permanent housing each month.

The agency houses and serves over 1,100 persons each year with a capacity to house 365 women, children and men each night.

The Big Idea

The Project will renovate our Respite Care Center to provide elderly homeless guests with a welcoming, comfortable, and functional environment in which they can recuperate and focus on working with staff to secure stable housing.

Having served homeless persons since 1978, CHS understands how environment and design can promote healing and preclude re-traumatization; affect one’s sense of identity, worth and dignity; and affect attitude, mood, and behavior.

With this understanding, the Project will (1) remodel the kitchen and eating area to enhance functionality and the communal dining experience; (2) replace old floors to ensure safety; (3) repaint walls using cool, lighter colors to create calmness, expand sense of space, and reduce stress; and (4) replace old furniture/beds with new furnishings that are durable and accommodating for larger participants.

The Center’s redesign will make the Center feel like home, promote healing, and motivate participants to pursue efforts to end their homelessness.

“CCRC has truly helped in my recovery from an injury. The staff are so much help, they take extra steps to really make sure the clients are ok. Not only medically. But they took the time to really get to know me and I had the chance to open up to them and that really improved my emotional state. I like how they are always asking how you feel, if I've taken my meds, also with helping me find housing. I truly can write a book about this program but even more about the staff that work here. I have nothing but love and respect for them."

- Joel Murillo