Pathways of Hope has been a committed and active member of the Family Solutions Collaborative for several years. Their Executive Director, David Gillanders, sits on the Executive Committee of the FSC and chairs the FSC Finance Committee.

Pathways of Hope serves as an FSC Access Point in the North Service Planning Area and both of their family emergency shelters are part of the FSC Family Shelter System.

Pathways of Hope Mission:
We lead a community effort to provide access to food, shelter, and housing to those experiencing hunger and homelessness in North Orange County.

Pathways of Hope Vision:
We envision a community dedicated to ending hunger and homelessness in North Orange County.

We wanted to learn more about Pathways of Hope – here are some questions we asked!

What innovative approach you have used to prevent or end a family’s housing crisis?
One innovative approach Pathways of Hope has taken to help solve family homelessness is to provide permanent housing for families of larger sizes on our own property. We have partnered with Orange County Housing Authority and Orange County United Way, Welcome Home OC program to provide permanent housing for larger families with housing vouchers.

Two of the three of our properties are four-bedroom homes that can house a family size of up to 9-10 in a family, and the third property is a two-bedroom unit that can house a family size of up to five. By creating additional housing availability, especially for larger families, we have found this only helps in the efforts of solving family homelessness.

How has your agency reduced barriers for families to access services and what did you learn in the process?
Pathways of Hope operates all programming as low barrier. Our staff is trained in trauma-informed care and harm reduction and take a Housing First approach with the participants we serve. We understand that the families we serve often experience many other challenges in their lives and when they come to us for help, we try and create the best possible environment for them to thrive at their own pace and in their own way. We have learned that meeting families where they are at only helps in the process of ending their experience of homelessness.

Share ways in which your agency uses Diversion/Problem-Solving strategies to help resolve family homelessness:
Every participant who we serve through our family Access Point and housing programs is asked questions related to diversion and prevention. All of our initial conversations with participants center around possible supports from family or friends, any out-of-state ties, or what put them into their current situation.

Our Family Service Navigators and Case Managers discuss every possible option other than the “traditional system or route” prior to completing their assessment and entering them into the Family Coordinated Entry System, to try to see what ways we can assist them in exploring any and all potential living situations and help get them to one of those alternative options.

If that means assisting a family with a train ticket to live with family out of state, engaging in landlord mediation, or assisting with groceries to offset the cost of someone living with family or friends, we will assist.

How does your agency outwardly demonstrate your commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in the programs and services you provide?
Our agency and programs welcome any community member, family or participant no matter their age, race, gender, etc. Our primary focus is assisting families and individuals who are in need to give them the best services we can provide.

Our agency has ongoing staff in-service training on Diversity/Equality and LGBTQ+, to name a few, where we provide all staff the opportunity to increase their knowledge on serving a community that is diverse and in need of our services. We focus on the needs of each person and family who walks through our doors to get them to a better place than they were at before and help them thrive. That is how we stay committed to serving a diverse community.
Thanks, Pathways of Hope for your dedication to helping to ensure that family homelessness is brief, rare and nonrecurring!

To learn more about our member, Pathways of Hope, visit: https://www.pohoc.org/