How Does LifeMoves Help People Who Are Homeless? The Facts You Need to Know

Based in Silicon Valley, LifeMoves is a nonprofit that offers a wide variety of programs for people facing homelessness. It operates 23 service sites and shelters from Daly City to San José. In 2019 alone, LifeMoves delivered 224,000 nights’ worth of food, shelter, and services to people in need.

LifeMoves help people from all backgrounds transition to stable housing and obtain the case management and behavioral health services necessary for long-term success. The organization relies on the support of donors and volunteers to fight homelessness throughout the region.

Here’s what you need to know about the groups that LifeMoves serves and the services it provides:

Services Offered

Through its residential services programs, LifeMoves provides emergency interim shelter as well as food, clothing, and other essential items. Every night, approximately 950 people receive food, shelter, clothing, and other vital services from the organization.

The organization’s supportive services programs provide customized, intensive case management to individuals and families. In 2019, LifeMoves helped almost 70 percent of its clients make the transition to stable housing.

Finally, its community outreach programs administer a variety of drop-in and preventive services to facilitate long-term success. Each year, LifeMoves helps approximately 9,300 people move toward self-sufficiency.

Services for Families

Homelessness is particularly difficult for families with children. LifeMoves offers holistic support to families in crisis through its family shelters, education programs, therapeutic services, and childcare. Over 30 percent of LifeMoves shelter beds are allocated to minors in need, with the organization providing shelter to over 300 children on any given night.

Homelessness has a negative impact on child development, affecting kids’ health, behavioral development, and academic performance. LifeMoves provides a variety of supportive services, including a seven-week on-site summer camp for children — complete with field trips! During the school year, kids can work with tutors and attend STEM-related workshops, among other educational activities.

Services for Single Adults

In addition to supporting families, LifeMoves offer services for single adults. The non-profit provides food, clothing, and emergency interim shelter to adult clients, as well as offering intensive case management services.

Adults can attend health and wellness sessions on topics like anger management, nutrition, life skills, and financial literacy, among others. Every year, more than 5,600 single adults are aided through LifeMoves programs that are designed to help them return to stable housing as quickly and effectively as possible.

The aim of the single adult services program is to help adult clients identify the underlying factors that contributed to their homelessness, address and overcome those factors, and ensure they succeed in the long term. Adults can participate in a variety of programs that help them seek and obtain employment and find affordable housing.

Services for Veterans

Experts estimate that there are currently about 700 veterans who are homeless in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Approximately 20 percent of LifeMoves clients are veterans — and 117 beds in its various shelters are reserved exclusively for this population.

For many individuals, serving their country takes a significant toll. Military service can result in trauma and lead to significant challenges, particularly when it comes time to transition back to civilian life.

LifeMoves is partnered with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. As part of this partnership, it delivers support and services to veterans experiencing homelessness, providing a vital lifeline, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Behavioral Health Services

People who are homeless have often been exposed to trauma. This is true whether homelessness occurs in an individual’s formative childhood years, after military service, or as a single adult. LifeMoves offers clinical psychological services to provide clients with crucial support and help them build the foundations of behavioral and mental health that are integral to self-sufficiency.

The LifeMoves behavioral health program offers a range of therapeutic services, supporting clients from a mindfulness-based, trauma-centric orientation. It is designed to foster emotional and mental awareness; improve decision-making processes; enhance interpersonal capacity; and promote the ability to engage in prosocial behaviors that lead to beneficial outcomes.

The behavioral health program is available to seniors, adults, teens, and children at LifeMoves shelter locations. Veterans and families can participate in individual and/or group therapy sessions. Sessions are led by doctoral-level psychology students with supervision from licensed clinical psychologists.

Community Outreach Services

The homeless outreach team is the organization’s relationship-building, boots-on-the-ground arm. The team spends time on the streets and in known encampments to identify and engage with people who are unsheltered. Last year, the team provided critical services to more than 300 individuals. Of these, about one-third successfully transitioned to either stable housing or shelter accommodation.

Over 750 people received healthcare for the homeless services from LifeMoves. This program provides coordination of care services, help applying for health insurance, and transportation to medical appointments. The whole person care program and the hospital outreach program provide referrals and extra help to individuals who are identified as medically fragile.

More than 100 clients receive security and services each night through unconventional shelters, such as motel vouchers and the safe parking program. Prevention programs like the upstream program work to prevent families who are at risk of homelessness from ever finding themselves in that situation.