From Homeless to Housed: How a Home Changes Lives, One Family at a Time

REDWOOD CITY - Elizabeth Perez spent years outrunning the hard mathof San Mateo County's housing market. The Redwood City native watched her rent climb faster than the income she earned pet sitting, until even a studio slipped out of reach.

"Out of nowhere everything just went up, from $1,400 to $2,000," she said. "I didn't know where to go, where to start, to get back on track. It was hard. Life was hard." Her pickup truck became home.

She entered a temporary shelter after learning she was pregnant. Then a case worker told her a room might be available in a former hotel that offered on-site support. Perez didn't expect much - experience taught her not to get her hopes up - but the address was near where she grew up, something familiar when she needed it.

Her application was accepted, and she now pays a third of her monthly income for a room with a small kitchen she shares with her young daughter at Casa Esperanza, or Hope House. She works a few blocks away at an auto parts store and is saving money for the first time in years.

Housing first, with support built in

Casa Esperanza, operated by the nonprofit Episcopal Community Services under a contract with the County of San Mateo, is part of a growing network of permanent supportive housing sites the County has recently opened. The model pairs affordable rents - residents typically pay no more than 30 percent of their income - with on-site services designed to help residents stay housed as they address financial, health or family challenges.

"Permanent supportive housing gives people the rights that come with being a tenant and a safe place to be," said Serene Flores, Casa Esperanza's property manager. "It's not transitional housing. They can stay as long as they choose, and if they need a case manager, a roll of toilet paper, hygiene supplies, some food, we have that available. There's no shame in it - it's part of the support they get here."

The evidence

The need for housing keeps rising. The County's 2024 point-in-time countfound 2,130 people experiencing homelessness - an 18 percent increase from 2022 - driven largely by rising rents and the growing number of people living in vehicles. Forty percent of the unsheltered population lives in RVs and nearly a third in cars.

Researchers say the solution is clear.

"Permanent supportive housing - or subsidized housing with voluntary services - is the evidence-based way to end homelessness," said Dr. Margot Kushel, a UCSF professor who oversaw a study into why Californians lose their housing. "Multiple studies show that PSH is the path to end homelessness. Housing - with the rights and responsibilities of tenancy - provides the stability for people to thrive. With stable housing, people are able to address other issues that may be holding them back."

From hotel rooms to homes

The purchase of Casa Esperanza was funded in part by California's Homekey program, an initiative that helps cities and counties buy and convert hotels into permanent housing. One of the Homekey awardsallowed the County to acquire a former Comfort Inn that became Casa Esperanza; another supports a project that will soon launch to convert a former Ramada Inn at 721 Airport Blvd. in South San Francisco into 45 affordable apartments for seniors 62 and older.

Expanding permanent supportive housing options has been critical in local efforts to reduce homelessness. County officials say funding at Casa Esperanza remains relatively safe from potential federal cuts to key funding streams because the County used its half-cent Measure K sales tax to subsidize rents.

The larger concern, they said, is that future cuts to federal homeless-services programs could make it far harder to open more housing of this kind.

"We've proven this model works," said Ray Hodges, director of the County's Department of Housing. "The only real question is whether federal support will keep pace. Without predictable funding, counties - and the very people who rely on us - are left with uncertainty."

"Federal cuts to permanent supportive housing put vulnerable residents at risk and threatens a proven solution that allows people to exit homelessness," said Claire Cunningham, director of the Human Services Agency. "In addition to providing safe and secure homes, supportive housing allows people to leave shelters, opening space for those newly experiencing homelessness. In one of the richest counties in the world, everyone deserves stability, dignity and a place to call home."

Homekey rests on a foundation backed by Kushel's research: most people become homeless because they cannot afford housingwhere they already live. A major study by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiativefound that 90 percent of participants lost their housing in California and three-quarters became homeless in the same county where they last lived.

Importantly, the study found the cost of housing is the primary driver of homelessness and that long-term stability comes when people are offered housing paired with support services.

Life inside a place to call home

At Casa Esperanza, each room has been retrofitted with a small stove, refrigerator and sink. Residents have full tenant rights - they can come and go as they please, unlike shelters with strict rules. Out back, a shaded dog run gives residents and their pets a place to stretch their legs and catch up with neighbors.

Episcopal Community Services runs the building and treats it as a small community - members staff the former hotel lobby around the clock. It will also operate the new site in South San Francisco.

On a recent afternoon, the community room at Casa Esperanza was busy. Staff packed grocery bags with carrots, pasta, canned goods, fruit and microwave popcorn for residents to take home, simple staples for people who have few options. Gathering in the community room also gives staff the chance to ask if anyone needs help with benefits paperwork, medical appointments, job leads or training - small conversations that let clients know someone cares.

'I'm just really grateful'

Alfonso Guzman isn't looking for training. He's looking for work.

Guzman, 65, spent decades painting houses until a fall from a ladder shattered his wrist and upended his life. "The fractures were very bad," he said through a Spanish interpreter. Unable to work and pay even modest bills, he moved into his truck.

He had all but lost hope for something better when an outreach team approached him one afternoon and urged him to apply for housing. He was skeptical; after years of sleeping in a pickup and relying on day-labor work, he didn't think much good would ever come his way. But he filled out the paperwork, expecting nothing.

He has now lived at Casa Esperanza for nearly three years. Work remains hard to find - "this month it's been really bad," he said - and days when he's not working are tough on him. He's grateful for a room where he can sleep, cook his meals and keep his belongings safe.

He recently added a power washer to his set of tools and hopes it will help him pick up more jobs. He'll clean "anything, anywhere."

When he talks about what having housing means to him, he tears up. "I'm just really grateful," he said, pausing, "to have this opportunity."

Looking ahead

On a recent evening, Perez, with daughter Makayla at her side, allowed a visitor into her second-floor room, punching the passcode into a keypad next to the door.

Inside, their black-and-white kitty cat affectionately named Kitty Cat poked her head out of a play tower with curious eyes. Makayla rushed to a kid-size table where she showed mom her art work and her favorite characters from the series "Paw Patrol" - Rubbleis today's favorite.

Then the little girl in pink leggings with a big smile ran across the room to pick up her baby doll, "feeding" her with a toy bottle.

Mom beamed. While Perez loves the opportunity to live at Casa Esperanza, she's also looking forward to finding a larger place she'll need as Makayla grows.

"Now I don't feel depressed," she said. "Being here, I'm on the way to something brighter."

Media Contacts

Department of Housing
Jessica Stanfill Mullin
[email protected]
650-363-4663

Human Services Agency
Paul Laustsen
[email protected]
650-465-9977