Wait, for now. Distrust everything if you have to.
But trust the hours. Haven’t they carried you everywhere up to now? –Galway Kinnell

Transitioning from a homeless shelter to housing can be long, frustrating, and rarely easy. But it is the solution to the problems of homelessness, mental disability, and financial instability. Mental disorders, including addictions, can lead to homelessness and be exacerbated by it. Until you treat the root causes of homelessness, personal instability will continue to be an issue that will impede permanence in housing and employment. And while having a physical residence is not necessarily a requirement for work, it can be useful in many other ways for getting help.

This is not to say all homeless people have mental health issues. Many do not. Sometimes, you get unlucky: you lose a job, a spouse, or a house, all within a short period of time. Losing any of these can be devastating. Losing two or all three at once is overwhelming. But it can happen. It does happen. And getting back up can be the hardest thing a human being can do.

To that end, local governments in Orange County have recognized the need to house the unhoused and to supplement that housing with mental health and financial counseling. Here are some of the programs that have been created to address this issue, some standalone, some part of umbrella programs:

HOPE Center (Homeless Outreach and Proactive Engagement): Having seen these folks in action, I can attest that their aims are honest and without the pressure of compliance from any authority. HOPE’s main objective is to get the right people together with the needed resources ASAP. In other words, instead of the homeless person having to repeatedly call three or four, or twelve different shelters or agencies, HOPE volunteers coordinate with local shelters and medical resources to get help to homeless individuals in a short amount of time.

Basically, if you’re on the sidewalk, a HOPE volunteer will approach you, identify themselves and their agency, and ask if you are OK. If you answer in the negative, the volunteer will inquire as to whether you need housing, financial assistance, medical assistance, or all of the above. If you answer in the affirmative, the volunteer will take your basic information and send out referrals to shelters, etc. As soon as they get a hit, they will notify you by phone or in person (if you don’t have a phone) that services are available if you still need them. Again, no pressure is put to bear: no hovering law enforcement or EMTs waiting to swoop down on you. (Trust me, that is a legitimate fear.) ochopecenter.com | 657-253-7053 Home Safe: The Home Safe Program was created in 2018 to prevent or address homelessness in order to support the safety and housing stability of individuals involved in Adult Protective Services (APS), and individuals in the APS intake process who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. This program offers a range of strategies to address and prevent homelessness and support ongoing housing stability for APS clients, including housing-related intensive case management, housing-related financial assistance, deep cleaning to maintain safe housing, eviction prevention, landlord mediation, and more.

cdss.ca.gov/inforesources/cdss- programs/housing-programs/ home-safe-program

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention at least one of the recent shel- ter openings written about in the Observer. There is a temporary cold weather shelter now open in Fullerton– a coordinated effort of HOPE, PATH (People Assisting the Homeless), and the Fullerton Police Department. Although it will only operate until March 31, we all know that cold weather, even in CA, can be hard to cope with physically and psychologically. You can call 657-520-9185 for more information. There will be a daily shuttle between the shelter and the Fullerton Transportation Center (FTC) at the corner of Harbor and Orangethorpe. Walk-ins are not permitted, but onsite food, bathroom facilities, and recovery service will be available. Also, domestic pets are allowed for those of us with support animals.

This is a sampling of the resources available. It still does not translate into picking up a phone, making a call, and having a warm meal and a warm place to sleep by the end of the day. And it requires trust: trust that the friendly person who approaches you on the sidewalk can deliver what they promise. But when you’re at the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up. And if that means baby steps, then I hope you find the courage to take them.

Better days are coming… if we work for them.