The City of Santa Rosa works with several community partners to provide outreach, shelter, housing, and services to persons experiencing homelessness, or those who are at risk of becoming homeless, in alignment with its Housing First Strategy — providing individualized assistance to people experiencing homelessness toward the goal of obtaining housing. Below are a list of programs currently funded by the City.

Emergency Shelter

Family Support Center is a 138-bed emergency shelter operated by Catholic Charities for families experiencing homelessness. The center provides food, clothing, children’s activities, medical and dental care, and client-focused family action plans and services to overcome homelessness. 

Samuel L. Jones Hall Homeless Shelter is a City-owned facility which has been operated by Catholic Charities since it opened in 2005. This housing-focused emergency shelter provides up to 213 year-round beds with 138 set aside for individuals with the highest vulnerability in conjunction with the regional Coordinated Entry system, plus up to 75 beds prioritized for the Homeless Encampment Assistance Pilot Program or during emergent situations, medical respite, and for public safety. Samuel L. Jones Hall Shelter Annex is a prefabricated structure that will provide 60 emergency shelter beds and wrap-around services for persons experiencing homelessness in conjunction with the existing facility. The shelter annex is scheduled to open in mid-January 2021 and will restore the shelter bed capacity that was lost due to social-distancing restrictions during the Coronavirus.  These 60 beds are part of the total 213 year-round beds provided on-site.

For victims of domestic violence, the City of Santa Rosa provides funding to the YWCA's Safe House to support intervention, prevention, and treatment services, including counseling, support services, and family advocacy, to create a life free of violence.

Day Services

Homeless Services Center: Operated by Catholic Charities, is a multi-service day center in downtown Santa Rosa for persons experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County. The Center provides showers, laundry, telephone, mail service, referrals and shelter intake, all with the goal of exiting participants out of homelessness and into housing. Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST) and Coordinated Entry program operations are based at this facility as well.

The Living Room: For women and their children experiencing homelessness, the City of Santa Rosa provides funding to The Living Room for comprehensive case management and access to services through their daytime drop-in center.  

Safe Parking Pilot Program

A Safe Parking Pilot Program is being developed to begin in early 2022. The program will provide community members who are experiencing homelessness a place to safely park their vehicle or RV with access to basic services, as well as wrap-around services in alignment with the City’s Housing First strategy. Additionally, the Program is meant to lessen the impacts of homelessness on the broader community.

Street Outreach

The Homeless Outreach Services Team (HOST), operated by Catholic Charities and funded by the City is a street outreach team working to engage persons experiencing homelessness into services and housing in collaboration with the Police Department’s Downtown Enforcement Team (DET) and other service providers and community partners.

For referrals call (707) 978-8329 or HOST@srcharities.org

Rental Assistance

HCA Family Fund is a program operated by Community Action Partnership to assist individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless with rental assistance combined with financial coaching, to empower the participants for future housing stability.

The Housing First Fund was authorized by City Council in 2018 to further HOST's efforts to assist persons experiencing homelessness to obtain housing. The funding goes towards landlord incentives, risk mitigation, tenant assistance and housing assistance such as security deposits and rental payments. 

Community Homeless Assistance Program (CHAP)

Santa Rosa City Council approved the Community Homeless Assistance Program (CHAP) in 2016 to foster community solutions with the goal of reducing the impacts of homelessness on the community and to better serve persons experiencing homelessness. This program allows property owners to use commercial properties or properties/facilities that meet the Zoning Code definition for “Meeting Facility, Public or Private”, for safe parking, safe camping, the placement and maintenance of portable toilets and access to existing bathroom facilities, provision of temporary overnight shelter and storage for personal belongings. Read the Press Release, CHAP Guidelines, and CHAP Registration Form for more information.

Homeless Encampment Assistance Program (HEAP)

Santa Rosa’s Homeless Encampment Assistance Pilot (HEAP) program involves a multi-disciplinary team focused on a compassionate approach to address the health, safety and shelter needs of persons living in encampments and to ease the impacts to surrounding communities.