Two local nonprofits launch Sonoma Valley’s first Homeless Street Outreach program, an effort to connect individuals with vital housing and social services.
Two Sonoma County nonprofits joined forces to launch Sonoma Valley’s first Homeless Street Outreach program, a program designed to connect individuals with vital housing and social services and rebuild their trust within the system.
HomeFirst and Sonoma Applied Village Services (SAVS) partnered up to address needs for services and support within the valley’s homeless population, which has been an underserved area in the county.
The Sonoma County Department of Health Services found Sonoma Valley to be the only county subregion — which includes Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, South County, West County, North County, and Sonoma Valley — that lacked a street outreach team.
A 2024 Sonoma County Homelessness survey prepared by Applied Survey Research found that 86 individuals in Sonoma Valley are experiencing homelessness, with 74 unsheltered and 12 sheltered.
“The reason street outreach is really important is because there’s people out there who are the most vulnerable and are often not going to come into a location to receive services on their own,” Hunter Scott, coordinated entry director of HomeFirst said. “And it really takes a concerted effort to develop a relationship with them and get them to trust the system again through the relationship with the outreach staff.”
HomeFirst works to end homelessness by offering support and resources to address immediate and long-term housing needs. Sonoma Applied Village Services focuses on finding affordable housing solutions and shelter for local citizens.
The new Homeless Street Outreach program is funded by the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition.
“We applied for funding to meet that need and so did SAVS. And we are actually funded together to create this new program,” Scott said.
The Sonoma Valley Homeless Street Outreach Team is made up of one worker from each organization, who spend time in the field to evaluate an individual’s specific needs.
Outreach workers Sam Ojebola from Sonoma Applied Village Services and Jeri Moreno from HomeFirst gather information to build a comprehensive data set, which guides prioritization and resource allocation.
By visiting encampments and known locations of people who are homeless in the valley, the team is able to connect with them one-on-one and try to break barriers they may have faced getting help within the homelessness service system.
“Because these are people who’ve been traumatized by the system, or have significant mental health concerns that prevent them from engaging with more traditional service providers like shelters or drop-in centers, they may not be going on their own and therefore require that intentional outreach to get them to say yes to services.”
These services are vital in preventing deaths and rebuilding trust..
Ojebola and Moreno often carry snacks and hygiene/cleaning products as a way to start a relationship with clients, Scott said.
“[The outreach team] also has the ability to take somebody out to coffee if that would help to create that relationship,” Scott said.
The Sonoma Valley Homeless Street Outreach team assesses and matches individuals with housing and offers services such as obtaining identification, social security cards, and pet vaccinations. Outreach workers connect those in need with primary health care providers, behavioral health services, and emergency services during inclement weather.
Sixty-seven percent of the program’s clients had zero contact with homeless services prior to the team’s engagement, Scott said. The program launched in July, and had served 21 homeless individuals and housed two since October.
Because of Sonoma Valley’s geographic isolation, access to essential services for the homeless population can be challenging. The outreach team can assist with transportation for homeless individuals without vehicles, to help them obtain identification necessary for receiving housing.
Scott said the program’s gap analysis indicates the need for three outreach workers in the valley to meet 50% of the need and hopes to expand the team as the program further develops.
Through outreach, the team and shelter staff assess how vulnerable individuals are and what type of housing best fits their needs.
““We’re matching them with housing in the order of most vulnerable in the community first,” Scott said. “But there’s a lot of leg work that has to happen, that’s not the end of the story.”
Through a contract with the City of Sonoma, HomeFirst runs an initiative called a By Names List, which brings service providers together to maintain a list of homeless individuals, develop action plans, and avoid duplicating services.
Service providers such as Sonoma Valley Fire District, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Sonoma Valley Health Center, Sonoma Overnight Support, and the city, have biweekly By Names List meetings.
The By Names List process has been in place for a year, with the support of the county investing in outreach services, Scott said.
The organizations hope to collaborate in the future with the East County Services Center, which could potentially provide space for the outreach team to work and meet clients, Scott said.
You can reach Staff Writer Emma Molloy at [email protected].
