Outreach

Housing-focused outreach is a homelessness intervention strategy that connects individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness directly with permanent, stable housing, rather than requiring them to go through other services like emergency shelters first. 

Outreach workers also address the immediate needs of people experiencing homelessness like: 

• Providing water on hot days
• Distributing hygiene services and access to showers
• Driving people to appointments
• Pet care

Addressing immediate needs can also help to build rapport and gain trust, eventually helping people connect with interim shelter and then assist them in accessing permanent housing.

In addition to addressing short term needs, outreach workers often work with individuals on long-term goals. For example:

• Helping people get documents they need for housing
• Connecting people to mainstream benefits like CalFresh, General Relief and Medi-Cal
• Assisting people with connections to other services like job training or behavioral health supports.
• Helping people reconnect with family
• Coordinating medical care and support with appointments 

Like case management, goals are personalized and based on the needs and wants of the individual. It can take a long time for someone to be connected to permanent housing; outreach often provides a connection to necessary services in the interim.