In the Spotlight: Hope Village

In the Spotlight: Hope Village

By Brian Mason, Program Manager

When you walk through the front gate of Hope Village, you feel this positive energy. There is a lot of hope within those walls, and watching the clients become each other‘s cheerleaders and celebrate things with each other.

Hope Village had its grand opening in March 2024 and is located on county-owned property directly across from the County Government Center in the City of Santa Maria, at the intersection of CenterPoint Parkway, Lakeside Parkway, and Southside Parkway. Hope Village hosts 94 dignified rooms designed to accommodate adult individuals and couples, individuals with their pets, as well as youth experiencing homelessness. 

Of the 94 rooms, 10 rooms are dedicated to young adults experiencing homelessness in partnership with Fighting Back Valley of Santa Maria, and 30 rooms are designed to provide recuperative/respite care services. These services allow individuals experiencing homelessness to have a safe place to rest and recover after being discharged from the hospital, 5 beds are set aside for veterans that are part of the GPD (Grant Per Diem) program, 20 beds are for clients that are from the riverbed that are enrolled in the CERF 2 program, and the remainder of the beds are for those experiencing chronic homelessness, mostly coming directly out of encampments nearby.

Each room in Hope Village is furnished with a bed, a desk, and a chair, and features heating and air conditioning, a window, and, most importantly, a door that locks, ensuring privacy and security for all residents. Hope Village receives funding from various sources in Santa Barbara County, including the California Encampment Resolution Funding and Homeless Housing and Assistance Program, via the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Admission to Hope Village is given exclusively through referrals from street outreach teams, who work to connect with the unsheltered population. The teams use geo-tracking software to ensure services reach those in need within the targeted downtown Santa Maria area.

Hope Village is a 24-hour-run shelter with 24-hour staffing. This dynamic, interdisciplinary team consists of a dedicated Program Manager, two Case Managers, a Day Habilitation Coordinator, a transporter, and shelter staff. Clients are required to participate in Case Management.