HIGH DESERT HOMELESS SERVICES INC
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Mission Statement
Our mission is to assist residents of San Bernardino County who have been displaced from long-term housing due to natural disaster or loss of income and empower homeless men, women and children by providing the necessary skills to become self-sufficient. Our vision is Building a brighter future where all our residents have the resources and education to become independent members of our community.
About This Cause
The Shelter Programs High Desert Homeless Services, Inc. (HDHS) is a nonprofit 501 c3 that provides shelter and shelter related services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. HDHS provides a safe structured living environment and its 55-bed facility located at 14049 Amargosa Road in Victorville is a 90-day program with the possibility of 30-day extensions, available upon request and assessment.Residents of the High Desert are homeless and unemployed. According to the San Bernardino County 2020 Point-in-Time Count, there were 3,125 persons who were homeless on January 23, 2020 in San Bernardino County. The report states that this is a decrease of 19.9% from the 2019 count. Of the 3,125 persons, 735 were sheltered and 2,390 were unsheltered. According to the report, the City of Victorville accounted for 132 sheltered, 21 transitionally housed, and 298 unsheltered homeless. Here at High Desert Homeless Services, Inc. our mission is to assist residents of San Bernardino County who have been displaced from long-term housing due to natural disaster or loss of income and empower homeless men, women and children by providing the necessary skills to become self-sufficient. HDHS provides services to between 400-500 families and individuals each year from the County of San Bernardino. The main eligibility requirement for an individual to enter our program is that the client has to be literally homeless and willing to work towards regaining their independence. They need to be able to pass drug and alcohol screening and covid-19 testing.Due to covid-19 we have limited our intakes to two days a week when we have an onsite doctor and nurses to administer a rapid test. Intakes are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9am-2pm and can be at other times if potential client has a current negative test. We have implemented Covid-19 Policies and Procedures to insure the safety and wellbeing of our current clients and staff. Our collaboration with Symba Center allows us to do rapid tests at the shelter. They screen new intakes, test staff and current clients weekly and if anyone presents any symptoms they test them as well. Once cleared, an intake assessment is the next action taken when an individual comes to HDHS seeking shelter. After the assessment, if the person is deemed a good fit for our program we input all of their information into HMIS, noting the services that the individual is receiving at the time of intake, for example; shelter, clothing, and hygiene. Upon entering the shelter during the initial assessment a photo copy of the individual’s identification card or driver’s license is made along with their social security card. All information obtained from the assessment is entered into the HMIS system and printed out for the client to sign and then placed in the individual's file. All require ESG documents are completed and filed in the client’s folder. Then HDHS sends a request to United Way 211 CES for a reverse referral for emergency housing.The client is then scheduled to see the case manager within the first three days of arrival to go over the client's background, set short term goals and a plan of action to be put into effect immediately in order to reach those set goals. Also, the procedures, rules and requirements of the shelter are reviewed once again to make sure the client understands what is expected and to answer any questions the client may have regarding the program. We provide all our clients with all their necessities including clothing and hygiene. HDHS has a commercial kitchen and we cook all our clients’ meals and have snacks available all throughout the day. For our clients that are working we provide them sack lunches to take. The case manager and client will also discuss the clients educational and work history, skills, strengths, and experience to determine eligibility for any other employment/housing assistance known to HDHS. At this time the case manager will enroll the client into our 'Job Shop' and any other classes that are offered that would be a good tool to helping the individual reach the short term goals, which have been set and outlined together. Each unemployed client is required to seek employment and turn in 25 new job searches each week. Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 12:00pm clients must either be enrolled in our 'Job Shop' or leave the property in search of new employment. Clients that are disabled and have income are required to do 25 housing searches a week. The client will meet with the case manager on a weekly basis to check progress being made and to collect the client’s job search logs which are required each week. Once a client obtains employment they are required to save all income earned towards regaining stable housing. Our Shelter Family Day Care program was designed to help our single parent families by giving them access to our Job Shop class without worrying about what they are going to do with their children. Children can be checked into our Day Care Program while they are attending classes, working on applications and resumes, and to attend scheduled job interviews. We have currently began a collaboration with a 24 hour day care center to provide additionally assistance to single parents that are working. Our Ride for Success Program is designed to help eliminate the barrier of transportation for our job seeking and newly employed clients. We provide our clients with rides to and from their job interviews, as well as to and from employment for the first few weeks. After they become acclimated with their new job then it is their responsibility to setup their own transportation. Currently we have several clients who are all employed at Home Chef located in Colton. These clients use one of our shelter vehicles to drive to the Victor Valley Transportation Center where they are picked up by bus by the employer. Once a client is working and/or secured income they are required to save all their money. We offer a in-house savings or encourage them to open bank accounts. All clients are required to show continued proof of savings. The clients are then required to start providing housing searches. When funding is available clients are evaluated and referred to United Way 211 CES for housing assistance referrals. HDHS is a part of HMIS so each client who participates in any class must sign in and the classes that each individual attends is entered into the HMIS system. This resource is utilized to track all intakes into our shelter and all programs, classes, and resources that are provided to each client. Through this system we can document short-term goals set by the individual and the case manager who meets with each client regularly to council, guide and put together a plan of action to achieve the short-term goals that are set. Individuals who enter our program are monitored through the HMIS program, but HDHS also maintains a daily customer log which is the first form of tracking that documents every individual who receives other services who do not enter into our shelter program such as receiving clothing from our clothing closet and uses our showers on our open shower nights. HDHS also utilizes an in-house computer program which tracks shelter nights provided. After completion of the program we ask each client to fill out an exit survey. The answers given on the survey allow us to gauge the success of the program from the perspective of the individual or family who was served. We have very recently begun to use surveys for each class taught to help show client improvements. Additionally, HDHS collaborates with Moses House Ministries to help coordinate services for clients who would benefit from both services. Any single parents with children under six will be enrolled into Moses House Ministries for Case Management, Parenting Classes and Transportation Program. Any of Moses House Ministries’ clients that are looking for work will be able to enroll into our shelter employment job search program, as well as enroll into shelter if they are homeless. This upcoming year we are looking to expand on this collaboration with the Moses House. The shelter will be assisting both our clients with soft employment skills and Moses House will be doing on the job training for both our clients at their thrift store. Over the last few years, we have collaborated with the Rescue Mission. The shelter was the lead agency on the Victor Valley Community Warming Shelter, which provided a warm safe place for chronically homeless to stay during nights when the weather was 40 degrees or lower. When the covid-19 pandemic hit we transitioned it into a 24 hour covid compliant shelter. We kept it open and running until June of 2021 when Illumination Foundation stepped up to be the Interim Wellness Center lead agency. In June of 2022, the City of Victorville approached us to take back over the Interim Shelter, which is a 92-bed low-barrier shelter for men and women. We have been running this shelter for a little more than a year. In addition to this, our community outreach efforts include the "Clothing Closet" which is open Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from 1-3 pm, providing two free outfits for the whole family as needed, including but not limited to shirts/blouse, jeans/slacks, under garments, jackets, blankets, socks, handbags, belts and shoes to clients and any resident of San Bernardino County who are in need. Also, HDHS has "Open Shower" nights on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday evening from 8-10 pm, where we open our shower facility to any individual in the community who desires a hot shower also providing a towel, free hygiene kits, and toiletries as needed. During the winter months HDHS hands out free blankets and jackets which are accumulated throughout the year as donations when these items are received. Additionally, as clients leave our facility and enter into their own home, HDHS provides a care package of a week's worth of food suitable for the family size to help them transition, as well as kitchenware kits that include dinning ware, cooking and eating utensils and basic household items when available.