Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Education and work experience coincide with a young person's ability to secure living wage employment and competitive skills and knowledge that will result in better personal, housing, and economic security. Across the State of California and locally, there has been greater visibility about housing insecurity and homelessness for mainly youth and young adults between the transitional ages of 18-25. For example, the California State Universities 2016 study found that 1 and 10 students were homeless. And, the Los Angeles Community College District newly released report finding that 55% of students face food insecurity and 20% are homeless.
While the cost of housing has priced TAY with low earnings and those building on their educational assets out of the market, making ends meet has been a challenge for any young person that doesn't have earnings beyond a minimum wage. On average, TAY exiting child welfare and probation systems, earn less than $5,000 a year and encounter difficulty
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Fostering Hope
Foster Hope is an education and housing stabilization program for vulnerable youth and young adults between the ages of 16 -25 designed to meet the cultural, emotional, emergency , and mental needs of youth. Young adults receive life coaching and mentoring in the areas of financial literacy, communication, nutrition and health, education, emergency motel/hotel voucher, and independent living. They can access mail, free Wi-Fi, computers, emergency services (meals, laundry, shower, and food), financial assistance, housing referrals, service referrals, and employment and education opportunities.
Hope Refuge
Hope Refuge provides scattered-site l independent living to homeless youth and young adults, ages 18-25, up to 36 months. They are housed in a shared living environment, in which they share a room that is equipped with a bed and area for storing clothing and personal items. We teach them to prepare their own meals and upkeep of their space. To help them transition to independence, we focus on education attainment by connecting and enrolling them in GED programs, college, or vocational programs as a requirement of housing. Other support services include life skills training, leadership development, financial literacy, employment preparation and placement, and community-building.
College I Can
College I Can provides college preparation, access, and retention service through its College I Can Academies, digital literacy training, and drop-in services. Youth receive scholarships, financial aid counseling, housing assistance, academic counseling, mentoring, and tutoring.
Rapid Rehousing
Rapid Rehousing provides short and mid-term rental move-in and rental assistance to young adults and young families, ages 18-25, who are at-risk or who are already experiencing homelessness. This program helps young adults reintegrate in the community by helping them obtain or maintain safe, affordable housing and by linking them to mainstream, community-based services they need.
I Engage
I Engage is a leadership development program aimed mobilizing and organizing vulnerable youth and young adults to be social justice leaders and advocates for causes such as juvenile justice, safety net system reform, and workforce development.
Where we work
External reviews

Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The primary goal of SOH and all of our programs is to equip our young people with the resiliency to succeed in life.
Program Objective: (1) Ensure that TAY have access to safe and secure housing: (2) Obtain the independent living skills to adequately prepare them for self-sufficiency: (3) Help them identify permanent housing destinations: (4) Promote financial stability through education and employment, asset building, and counseling
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We help TAY build protective factors, such as, self-esteem, problem-solving and coping skills, academic development, and community engagement that will equip youth and young adults to respond to life circumstances. TAY are able to receive life coaching and mentoring in the areas of financial literacy, communication, nutrition and health, education, and independent living. We also use strategies that include evidence-based motivational interviewing for engagement that is youth-centered and goal-oriented as well as peer mentoring with former homeless and foster/probation youth; character and leadership development through community service and service learning activities, such as digital literacy training, civic engagement and organizing education, and field trips; health education in the form of workshops and lecture series, pamphlets, and social media communication; and job therapy and readiness through partner organizations. If a young person encounters a period of housing instability, our housing resources help them get back on their feet and normalcy.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
With over 60 years of combined experience in working with the homeless and youth, our staff and Board provide the necessary skills to address the issues our youth face. Our seven member board, in addition to being a resource, helps establish policy and direction for the organization's growth and sustainability.
Remarkably, 84% of our board members work or live in within our catchment area. They are reflective and representative of the population we serve.
Over three years, we have demonstrated our success by having 89% of our youth reporting housing stability and higher education attainment through regular check-ins with us for academic advocacy and general support.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
SOH has had many accomplishment. For the first time ever, we hosted a Jazz and Conversations on Youth Well-Being event that was featured in the LA Standard Newspaper. And, we completed our first ever 10-60 challenge, a partnership with Holman United Methodist Church to house 10 homeless youth in 60 days. Last month, SOH enlisted free training and technical assistance from Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARs) to revamp our programs to be responsive due to boys and young men of color dropping out of school for finance and high stress level reasons. SOH underwent mini-focus groups and surveys with program youth as well as exclusively boys and young men serving organization to prioritize the top five actions: (1) Establish co-mentoring program to tap into existing programs to meet social emotional needs with whom boys and young men can identify: (2) Provide more workshops and retreats to strengthen boys and young men minds to deal with environmental stress factors (violence, gangs, poverty, racism, etc.) and broaden their horizons including virtual workshops: (3) Travel or study abroad for broaden cultural exposure: (4) Connect boys and young men to meaningful employment pathways coupled with other financial supports to reduce stress.
For this new fiscal year, we are securing 17 beds of Bridge Housing for homeless Transition Age Youth who are going to school and working while they await permanent housing placement into our Rapid Rehousing program. It will be the first Bridge Housing of its kind in South Los Angeles and in the County. And, we are launching I Engage, an advocacy and awareness program to address inequity in safety net systems and encourage participatory democracy among young adults and I Parent, a program designed to support our young parenting families to equip them with resiliency to rise out of poverty. New funding by Kaiser Permanente South Bay will help us provide better support services for our youth and young families residing in the South Bay.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve young people and families who may have histories with child welfare, juvenile justice, and housing and economic insecu.ities,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
For instance, in 2017 our data suggested trends in declining programmatic outcomes of boys and young men of color in our education and employment programs, we enlisted free training and technical assistance from Center for Applied Research Solutions (CARs) to assist with revamping our programs to be responsive to the trend. We underwent internal exploration by having a mini-focus group and survey to prioritize the top five actions the young men identified, which resulted in us hiring more Black male staff with whom they could identify. Positive outcomes increased.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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SANCTUARY OF HOPE
Board of directorsas of 08/04/2021
Ms. Sharron Hillery
City of Santa Monica
Sharron Hillery
Enforcement, City of Santa Monica
Rachawn Baker
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Tanya Holmes
The Walt Disney Company, Global Human Resource Manager
Shannon Murray
Watts Labor Community Action Committee, Clinical Director
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/04/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.