Employing the Unhoused

Photo by Briana Mendez-Padilla

Maribel Reyes is not much of a coffee lover but she wouldn’t trade her job at Wrigley Coffee for the world. 

However, on her first day–and for her first few months–she was nervous. 

Reyes had not been working for the past three years as she and her family struggled to get by after getting evicted. Moving from shelter to shelter, staying at relatives’ houses and having an 8-year-old stepson and 3-year-old daughter to look after, Reyes preferred to stay at home.

“I was supposed to start when they opened, but I started two weeks later because I was so nervous to start all over,” Reyes said. 

It was her spouse and local non-profit organization, Family Promise, that gave her that “push” she needed. She said she is proud of herself for leaving her comfort zone and being able to better provide for her family. 

Family Promise is one of the non-profit organizations that the Homeless Opportunity for Meaningful Employment (HOME) program partners with. 

HOME works with current and formerly homeless people as well as those that are at risk of being so. The program has contracts with businesses and employers in Long Beach where participants can be placed to complete 200 hours of unsubsidized work while they search for subsidized employment. 

According to Salvador Barajas, the career center manager with the city of Long Beach, HOME is meant to bridge the employment gap among unhoused folks and ease the transition back to full-time employment. 

The program helps participants before, during and after the employment process with resume workshops, gift cards for uniforms or interview attire, training and transportation. 

Program specialist Alex Medina works closely with each individual to map out short-term and long-term employment goals and make sure they are equipped to succeed in the workforce. 

“I prefer that one-on-one [orientation] because that way I can get a better understanding of the individual and just learn more about them to see if there's anything else I can help with,” Medina said, emphasizing that these conversations help him place them at an adequate worksite they’ll enjoy. 

Individuals are connected to HOME through different partner organizations like Reyes or referred to by the city’s Multi-Service Center. Based on the grant that funds it, the yearly cohort needs to consist of at least 34 people, but Medina often strives to exceed that and help as many people as he can. 

Whereas Barajas feels confident in the ability of the HOME program to ensure participants land a job, he admits that they are not equipped to deal with the social-emotional issues participants may be facing. 

“It’s just about trying to reach out to those agencies with their therapists, with a mental health provider, to kind of get [participants] reconnected and re-engaged,” Barajas said. 

That is why Barajas would appreciate having a social worker on staff that could provide more specific help to those who need it. 

“Sometimes you do work with individuals that maybe have some sort of a disability or need other resources, and by the time we make the referral, the second appointment, [there’s] just like lag time,” Barajas said. “I wish we were more equipped to provide [those services] right away.”

Given that HOME is a work assistance program, individuals interested in being a part of it must present the necessary identification documents such as social security number and identification cards. 

The probability of unhoused folks having lost their documents or gotten them stolen over time is quite high and is one of the main challenges Medina encounters. This also means that individuals who are undocumented are unable to benefit from the program. 

Medina also wished that there were enough funds and staff available to better market the program. As a small non-profit, he said there’s only so much they can do to promote and make others aware of the resources they offer. 

A crucial aspect of the HOME program is constant communication. Medina likes to keep in touch with individuals throughout the whole process to make sure they get the most they can out of the program. 

“The [program’s] strength is that the staff are knowledgeable and serve individuals with a trauma-informed approach,” Barajas said. 

Reyes can attest to that. She was the first client Medina worked with and she remembers being a bit shy and uneasy at the prospect of a man helping with her case–she feared he wouldn't "get it" or be able to relate to her situation. Upon meeting him she quickly changed her mind.

“It's the most important thing that happened to me,” Reyes said. “I never thought there was so much help around.”