TPHS has had to temporarily suspend financial assistance it provides to people in danger of becoming homeless due to evictions and people transitioning from homelessness to getting into homes. In its first year of operation, TPHS received approximately four phone calls a month. This year, in July TPHS received 59 phone calls for assistance and in August 76 phone calls for assistance. In August alone, the program provided financial assistance to 35 people in 12 households with expenditures of $19,311. These figures show the extent of the serious crisis that exists in Sacramento due to a lack of affordable housing.
The good news is that through the generosity of charitable foundations and private donors as well as fund raising events put on by our hardworking Holy Spirit Conference Vincentians, in its almost four years of operation TPHS has helped a total of 304 people in 113 households with expenditures of $140,445.
One example of a family recently helped by TPHS is a mother and her three children, ages 20, 11 and 10, who had been homeless, but moved into an apartment at the end of August. The adult child had a job so she was able to help pay the first month’s rent, which was prorated because they moved in on the 20th, and half the security deposit. The Dept. of Human Assistance paid the other half of the security deposit. The mother and the adult child were each to pay half the rent, but the mother had just started a job and her paycheck at the end of August was not enough for her to pay her half of September’s rent, so they fell behind and they were served with a 3-day notice to pay or quit. TPHS paid, $1,115, the half owed by the mother so the family would not get evicted. The income from her and her daughter’s jobs would be enough to pay the rent going forward. In an email to TPHS, the woman said,
“Thank you so much for the help. You have blessed us tremendously and can’t thank you enough for your support. We were so worried of becoming homeless again was scary to think of again. You all have given us a chance to pursue our new lives and continuing moving forward in this new chapter of our lives. Grateful for all your help and support, also thank you for corresponding with me and keeping us in the loop.
God Bless You All”
We expect to receive grants in the near future and grant applications continue to be submitted so we look forward to reopening TPHS soon.