Street Pressure salutes organizations that service the community. The Union Station Homeless service has a rich history of giving back. Homelessness is the next step to a missed paycheck or a lost job. Once this happens “people have many barriers to employment including social stigma and lack of transportation, and child care. This organization is dedicated to having a direct impact on the community of the people who need it.
“Union Station was started in the 1970s by a local faith group who were disturbed by the reality of people in their community living on the streets. After a few years as a church-led program, we formalized as a secular nonprofit organization in 1984 with an independent board of directors and full-time staff. In the early years, we were primarily focused on providing emergency support such as meals and shelters.
Today, we have grown to be one of the pre-eminent homeless services agencies in the San Gabriel Valley due to the quality of our service and our practice of the Housing First model. This approach prioritizes providing permanent housing and then offering, but not mandating, wrap-around services to help people experiencing homelessness stabilize and improve their quality of life.
Along with a focus on permanent housing solutions, we also build authentic relationships and acknowledge that clients are best able to direct their own path toward personal wellbeing. Our staff becomes partners with clients, listening, learning and walking beside them.
This new model recognizes that trauma, broken systems and lack of support have led people into extreme vulnerability and homelessness. However, human beings are, by nature, resilient and can, with the right support, move toward stability and wellness.
Since adopting the Housing First model of care, and with a focus on trauma-informed services, we have seen a 97% success rate of clients who have been housed and have not returned to homelessness.”
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