In 2022, the city of San Fernando released its first-ever Homeless Action Plan – establishing a committee to advise the City Council on issues related to homelessness and developed a five-year plan.
One big step in working on this plan was the start of a yearlong pilot program with the nonprofit North Valley Caring Services (NVCS) organization for street outreach services.
The city commissioned NVCS for a yearlong $175,000 contract that includes the services of two full-time outreach case managers and one part-time food and donation coordinator.
After the year, the city will revisit the contract and decide what direction it wants to take – whether it wants to strengthen it or change its approach.
Manny Flores, the executive director of NVCS, said they intend to build relationships with the community and help resolve issues that arise from homelessness, lifting some of the responsibility from the police.
There has been much discussion about the role of law enforcement acting as the first responders to interact with those who are unhoused, as well as those who are facing mental health issues.
Flores said the NVCS staff are trained in dealing with unhoused communities. Many have degrees in social work and the organization offers ongoing training opportunities to their staff.
To be successful, Flores said they need citizens to actively call when they encounter someone experiencing homelessness.
“For us to be effective, we’re going to need your help. We’re going to need those phone calls,” said Flores.
The city of San Fernando has a population of approximately 25,000 and reports 72 unhoused people within its boundaries, an increase from last year’s estimate of 23 people. The greater Los Angeles County has an astounding over 75,000 people experiencing homelessness.
“I really do think it’s the compassionate desire of the city to want to make sure that they’re accountable and … providing services for that individual, that handful of people, those dozens of people,” said Flores.
On the Streets of San Fernando
“The approach for us is a relational approach,” said Flores.
Flores says the NVCS team uses hot meals to befriend unhoused people. They build trust by consistently meeting the same people. Once a relationship is established, people more readily accept services.
Homero Guevara is the outreach supervisor for the NVCS team in San Fernando. If you encounter an unhoused person in San Fernando and request assistance, Guevara and a rotating partner are the people who respond to that call.
“The city of San Fernando is very unique, very different,” noted Guevara.
Within the roughly 2.4 square miles of San Fernando, there are no established encampments. This is very different from the other areas NVCS operates in, where staff can easily follow up with clients by going to the encampment where they stay.
In San Fernando, Guevara’s job can be more difficult when trying to locate people – he actively has to search for them. Guevara said people can move quickly, even changing locations within the hour, so he encourages those calling the hotline to leave a description of the person they believe needs services. This way he knows who he is looking for when addressing the calls.
“Homer mentioned some people running from him. At some point, people will run towards him,” said Flores.
One to two times a week, Guevara loads up a van at the NVCS headquarters with over 30 homemade warm meals, cooked with fresh ingredients by volunteers. Some of the meals are delivered to a senior center to support elderly individuals who are experiencing food insecurity. The rest are used to connect with unhoused members of the community.
He drives around San Fernando looking for people experiencing homelessness and offers them a meal. With each box he delivers, he builds trust and gets one step closer to getting someone the services they need.
“When you build a relationship with food, they’re more willing to give you their names and the date of birth,” said Guevara.
With that small bit of information, Guevara can look people up in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and see their case notes – where they’ve been, what services they’ve previously received, if they have any pending referrals or if they are already on a waitlist for a shelter. He can then take the necessary steps based on that information – take someone to the shelter if he sees that they have been matched, create a referral if there is no existing case information or give them information about the services that NVCS provides.
One afternoon, an unhoused man slowly walked down the street pushing a shopping cart on the San Fernando Mall. His clothes were tattered and his legs were covered in wounds. Guevara asked if he wanted something to eat, and gave the man some fresh fruit. Then Guevara asked the man how his legs were doing, and if he was ready to get them looked at by a health professional.
The man grumbled and continued walking.
Guevara said, “I’ll see you again next week.”
Guevara has tried to get the man to go to the hospital before, but the man continues to refuse the help. Eventually, if he continues to refuse help, Guevara might have to take some action and Get the Department of Mental Health to examine him, “because he can lose his feet.”
Flores says housing someone often becomes more difficult the longer they are on the street. Someone who is newly experiencing homelessness is typically eager and ready for services. When they have been on the streets for years, they can be more distrustful of the system and stuck in their ways.
The Relational Approach to Services
NVCS serves the northeast San Fernando Valley more broadly, and can often refer the clients they meet in San Fernando back to the network of services at their North Hills campus.
The organization first established a presence in the area in 1978 with a breakfast program and became a formal nonprofit in 1995.
Flores says they use a multi-pronged approach to address homelessness, poverty and food insecurity – providing meals, medical care, housing services and holding community events.
“It’s full complementary services. It’s not just the food, but it’s the ability to get off the street, go back to your family,” said Flores.
The NVCS facilities have case managers, a market, freshly prepared meals, a garden, a safe parking location and showers “big enough for a bike and a shopping cart.”
“Social Determinants of Health, that’s when someone comes through one door and you’re able to move them through other doors,” said Flores. “That’s the other privilege that we have here because we have some programs that are right here on campus.”
When someone comes in for the safe parking program, they meet with one of the NVCS case managers, who work with the client to determine what services are needed. Flores said because there are programs and resources available on campus, the case manager can easily refer them to other services like food, job placement and the path to permanent housing.
Katie Joseph, Director of Development at NVCS, first encountered the organization while she was experiencing homelessness. After going through the safe parking program with her husband and two kids, she became an advocate of the organization and later a staff member.
“Basically eight out of every ten people … are moved from our safe parking into what we would consider permanent housing,” said Joseph. “And it literally is less than $5,000 for our entire program.”
Flores said it takes about three to six months for a person or family to move from the street, to safe parking, to permanent housing.
To NVCS permanent housing doesn’t necessarily mean a shelter, it could be something like a friend or relative’s house. Sometimes those opportunities are made on the NVCS campus – a past client may have an extra bedroom and need help supplementing rent, so they reach out to get a person they met at NVCS to occupy that room.
As a small operation, NVCS is unable to service the same amount of people as a large-scale service provider, but Flores said they base their success on how many people stay housed, rather than how many people move through their door.
“It’s a relational approach to homeless services, one that is more a community-based approach. To meet people where they are at,” said Flores.
He said the approach takes longer and includes more “hand-holding” to walk people through every step of the process, but provides people with a community and the support they need to make the shift into permanent housing.
The development of a community helps feed back into the system of services. Clients, like Joseph, often come back after getting housed and volunteer their time in the kitchen, store, or helping with the safe parking program.
“I fell in love with NVCS,” said Joseph. “I’m really glad it’s available for San Fernando.”
The NVCS San Fernando team can be reached via phone at (818) 898-1210 or by email at homeless@sfcity.org. The estimated response time is 24hrs on weekdays and 72hrs on weekends.
If there is an emergency, citizens are encouraged to call 911.