During the Fullerton City Council meeting on November 18, 2025, Jordan Hoiberg, Director of Housing Strategy and Community Partnerships at Illumination Health and Home, provided an update on the Fullerton Navigation Center, a homeless shelter located at 3030 W Commonwealth. Council Member Dr. Ahmad Zahra requested the presentation.

The Fullerton Navigation Center operates as a 150-bed recuperative care facility, with 40 beds allocated for Fullerton residents. While often regarded as an emergency shelter, its primary aim is to offer recuperative care for individuals discharged from hospitals with acute or chronic health issues.

Since opening, the center has provided over 280,920 bed nights to individuals experiencing homelessness in Orange County and has served around 620,000 meals. Key services include basic necessities such as toiletries, bedding, and food, as well as comprehensive care plans developed in partnership with care teams for each resident.

The center also focuses on legal assistance, helping clients expunge misdemeanor charges associated with homelessness, and collaborates with community organizations to secure employment and benefits such as General Relief and disability income.

To date, the Fullerton Navigation Center has successfully housed 315 households and offers critical housing navigation services, providing clients with individualized housing plans that account for their unique challenges and skills.

Financial support is available, offering up to $5,000 for moving-related costs, such as security deposits and application fees. The center also partners with the Tenancy Sustainment program to provide ongoing case management to reinforce housing stability.

Substance use counseling is accessible onsite, with licensed counselors conducting assessments and providing individualized treatment plans. Medical coordinators manage clients’ healthcare needs, including arranging primary care and monitoring vital signs.

Key partnerships enhance the center’s offerings, including primary care services from Clark Blue Medical Group and free dental care from volunteer dentists. The center also collaborates with county agencies and Pepperdine University to facilitate access to general relief and short-term therapy.

Council Member Dr. Ahmad Zahra raised concerns about residents’ complaints about inadequate access to microwaves and water fountains at the center. He also highlighted the need for improved nighttime response for the unhoused population. “Right now, there is no clear method for taking in individuals found on the streets at night,” Zahra stated, inquiring about plans to address this gap.

The Illumination Director responded, confirming that approximately 200 individuals remain unhoused and emphasizing the importance of ongoing communication with city staff to address operational issues. He noted that water supply disruptions had been managed by providing hundreds of water bottles while repairs were made. Regarding the microwave issue, the director mentioned the culinary program provides three hot meals daily and non-perishable snacks. He confirmed that a referral team operates 24/7 to assist with nighttime intakes and expressed hope for further discussions with city officials to improve the situation for those ready to access shelter services.

Regarding food services, the director stated, “We do have a culinary program that prepares three hot meals daily and provides non-perishable snacks.” The referral team for nighttime intakes operates 24/7 to assist those seeking shelter services. Dr. Zahra emphasized the progress made in reducing the unhoused population by nearly half over his seven years on the council, attributing much of the success to the navigation centers.

In response, the Illumination Director highlighted that while navigation centers are effective in connecting individuals to services, there remains a pressing need for housing availability to facilitate successful transitions to stability. The director expressed concerns about an increasingly older and disabled population among the unhoused, noting that many struggle to find income and housing in the private rental market. He also mentioned creative solutions, such as senior micro-communities, which offer below-market rental options for individuals aged 55 and older.

“As far as the microwave, I’m not sure what’s going on there, but we do have, as I mentioned, a culinary program that is preparing three hot meals a day for all of the clients at the facility, and we also provide snacks that are non-perishable when people want those snacks. Regarding nighttime referrals to the shelter, we have a referral team that operates 24/7. So I’m hopeful that maybe we could have some conversations with Daniel in the city about how we can ensure that we’re able to help the city of Fullerton, you know, monthly get people to shelter when people are ready to make that jump and get those services.”

Zahra, “We have reduced our unhoused population by almost half since I started on the council seven years ago. A lot of it has to do with having these navigation centers open. What do you think about the remainder of our population that is still unhoused?”

Jordan Hoiberg, “Yes. So then you know, the navigation centers are an effective entry point for connecting people to services and preparing them to make that transition to housing. But we must have that housing availability on the back end to help transition people, too. We found that the unhoused population is disproportionately skewing older and disabled now. So many of the people working don’t really have that option for developing income and finding a rental in the private rental market. I am concerned about what we are seeing at the federal level. I will say that.

“Our agency is always looking for innovative ways to address the issues we face at the systems level. One example I would highlight that has helped several people from the Fullerton Navigation Center is our stock of senior micro-communities, which are single-family residential homes. We’re able to place seniors age 55+ directly, and we offer room rentals at below-market rates. So we’re talking about $500 to $750 a month, when normal private-market room rentals are around $1,200 a month, and we’re talking about folks with Supplemental Security Income, Social Security disability income, and Social Security retirement benefits. We’re usually talking about people with incomes between $1,200 and $1,500.

“Sometimes it could go up towards, you know, $1900. I’ve even seen it a bit higher before. But usually we’re talking about people that if they paid full rent, even for a room rental, which is kind of the lowest rung in the housing market, they would be extremely rent burdened, and they just would not be able to afford that. So I am concerned that our homelessness, our homeless population, is skewing older, is skewing more disabled at a time that we are seeing fewer resources available for the housing that they need.”

Zahra, “I appreciate that, that perspective, and you know, love to I know we and the mayor were very open to looking at new solutions as well for what to do next. And I think I’m looking forward to more discussions with you and to drawing on your expertise as well. And we have a really good team with Daniel, our Housing Manager, and Daniel Valdez, moving forward. So looking forward to more collaboration.”

Mayor Pro tem Dr. Shana Charles, “Thank you for those questions. I’ve got some additional follow-ups as well. So you mentioned the $ 5,000 move-in assistance, which I know is part of the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) Housing Support Program, which is slated to end next year, unfortunately, due to federal restrictions at this point. So, what do you have a plan for what to do when that funding runs out?”

Hoiberg, “So you know, first I would say that our communications at this stage were heavily involved with CalAIM, and that the state is very committed to continuing calling. They are currently drafting their 1115 waiver to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to try to extend that.

“Of course, we do anticipate there are going to be changes to that. And we’re particularly concerned about housing. We also work on securing private grant funding to support that. We do have a grant with one funder out in the community right now that is specifically dedicated to those moving costs to provide an example. And we use that to supplement costs, either when we need more than $5000 in the Whatever it Takes program can’t kick in, or if we have clients who need assistance with moving costs and they are not medically eligible.”

Charles, “Some comments we’ve had from residents that weren’t already covered. So thinking about the transportation that folks can have to and from Illumination Foundation, I understand you have a shuttle, so if you could just talk about that a little bit and how that works.”

Hoiberg, “Yeah, we do have a shuttle fleet on site and provide transportation to guests. We have a post-transportation center that involves 3 or 4 transports out in the morning. Over to the Fullerton Transportation Center, and then it’s four back in the evening as well to the actual navigation center. In addition, clients can call the general site phone to request a pickup if needed. And you know, discourage that because it’s 150 people. We have limited staff. We’re not always able to run around everywhere and pick people up. But if somebody has a compelling need and they need that, we will go pick them up.”

Charles, “I’ve just heard that there’s a bit of a mismatch between the curfew and when the shuttles go, do they go until later in the evening, or do people have to come back very early?”

Hoiberg, “They go directly to the curfew.”

Charles, “And then, thinking about the time frame, I know it’s really clear for residents: in the handbook, during their recuperative care that covers the 180 days and all that. Is there something like that available on the Navigation Center side for those folks?”

Hoiberg, “Yes, so we do have a client handbook for the Navigation Center that is different than the recuperative care side. And it currently doesn’t have that time limit, but we are talking with city staff, you know, to see what the city’s direction would be on that. We have implemented something similar for a navigation center we operate in Santa Ana. So we do have some experience implementing and rolling out those policies. We have some stock language available that we’ve provided to city staff as well. So, but we, you know, we really want to make sure we’re doing it in a way that is intentional and responsible. We don’t want to spring this on people and have them risk their living situations unnecessarily. So we want to make sure that we are very forthright in the communications when we have the. The idea of what that looks like with clients, and we also have a clear idea on the back end about how to deal with specific instances that may come up.

“For example, if somebody does have a disability, they are waiting on a housing subsidy, they’ve done everything they need to do, and that’s just not available right now, and they need some additional time. How do we deal with situations like that? So, you know, we are starting those conversations with city staff about what that would look like. But I do think that we have a little bit of a way to go before we have something that is like I said, really responsible and ready to be implemented.”

Charles, “So next update, when we get that, we’ll see what that looks like. And then just a final question. During the 180 days, are people allowed to return if they don’t use all the days? Do they have to use them consecutively, or would they forfeit the unused days? Can someone stay for a month and then, if necessary, come back again within that year?”

Hoiberg, “Yeah, yeah, so. You’re talking specifically about the 180 days in the recuperative care program. So that’s based on the health plan authorizations we receive to provide that service. And it doesn’t need to be a consecutive 182 days. That’s a rolling cap. So when somebody enters our recuperative care service for the first time, they’re 182 cap starts from that day. If they use 30 of the days, then leave 30 days, end up in a hospital, and come back for another 60 days, that all counts towards the 182 days. But they can come back multiple times; they wouldn’t need to be referred if they’ve been discharged from the facility.”

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