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Homelessness & Housing, SF Home

New Year, New Home, New Hope

by Catholic Charities – January 19, 2022

Out of the Shelter and Into Their New Home

“We didn’t have much for Christmas but we had each other and we had our own place. It was so warm and so nice – just me and her.”

Single father Lawrence recalls the relief of moving to an apartment from a shelter he and his almost three-year-old daughter Lanaya had been staying at for the past year. Just in time to celebrate Christmas in their own place!

On the day his housing subsidy certificate from the shelter expired last month, Catholic Charities SF HOME team helped Lawrence secure a studio in the Tenderloin and a new housing subsidy certificate good for two years, along with kitchen and bath supplies.

“The SF HOME team went above and beyond, working after-hours with the landlord to make sure we didn’t spend a day on the streets after my certificate expired. I was so appreciative of that push,” he says.

The program partners with homeless families to transition them to housing through careful case management, aiding them toward permanent independent living.

Lawrence loves that the building has other families with young children, including one family they know from the same shelter and whom Catholic Charities also supported. Later this month, Lanaya will celebrate her birthday in their new home.

“It makes me so happy to see her happy. I want Catholic Charities to know they really helped me.” Congratulations, Lawrence and Lanaya! Here’s to many memories in your new home.