Supporting Families: The Sanchez Family’s journey to secure stable housing
Sanchez Family
Single father Francisco Sanchez and his three sons are grateful to be living in their own apartment after a journey to secure stable housing.
“Francisco says they are so blessed. They have never lived in a two bedroom apartment before,” said Sharon Miller, Director, Cathedral Social Ministries for Catholic Charities Santa Clara County. “They have only lived in a room in shared housing. His children can't believe they are living in a home of their own.”
The family’s story illustrates the importance of community partnerships and non-profit collaboration to meet the multiple needs of families and individuals in crisis.
Cathedral Social Ministries operates in downtown San Jose at John XXIII Multi-Service Center, moving to this location and becoming part of Catholic Charities in 2019. Their three programs are:
The Window - a drop-in office serving the homeless with postal service, toiletries, sandwiches, and service navigation
Bridges of Hope – Faith-based reentry case-management to those released from incarceration
Catholic Charities John XXIII Gardner Healthcare Clinic - Primary health care, substance abuse, pharmacy assistance to the homeless, the immigrant, migrant workers, those with no insurance
Learn more about the Sanchez family’s story in this video.
Sharon Miller relates the Sanchez family’s journey and the support they received from Catholic Charities and its partners:
Four years ago, the family sought help at the Cathedral. Parish staff referred the family to The Window, which provided service navigation and referred the family to the Cathedral Clinic staffed by Gardner Healthcare for the Homeless. All three children – Matias, Johsser and Hector – received immunizations, primary health care and the documents needed to register for school.
We didn’t see the family again until October of 2022 after Francisco called the Clinic. The family was referred to The Window because they were in immediate danger of becoming homeless. The family was told, with very short notice, they had to vacate the small bedroom they were living in to make way for another family who were known to the owners.
I responded rapidly, especially because of the children, and screened the family. They were good candidates for our new program “Highway to Housing,” a partnership between Catholic Charities and Gardner. The program, funded through a grant from the California Health Care Foundation on Homeless - Community Health Partnership, employs a Housing Navigator/Case Manager, Desiree Rodriguez. We then reached out to HomeFirst, another local nonprofit organization, and had Francisco screened for Homeless Prevention System (HPS). Meeting the qualifications since he was a working parent and had children, Francisco and his sons qualified for rapid rehousing and 12 months of case-management. They said they would have an apartment in a few days.
Then the staff of Catholic Charities Emergency Programs & Housing Services secured a motel for the family and billed it to The Window to prevent the family from sleeping in the cold air in their car at a Safe Park.
After the family moved into the apartment, Desiree, the Housing Navigator, facilitated transferring the children to their new schools. Then, Desiree and I met with the family on a Sunday, taking them shopping for household items paid for by The Window. We also arranged for the family to receive furniture through Bay Area Furniture Bank, a local nonprofit.
Francisco says, “Thank you to everyone who helped us. Without even knowing our family, they lent a helping hand.”
