Insight Housing

Insight Housing’s largest program is our Roads Home program which encompasses the myriad services we provide to Veteran clients across seven counties/Continuums of Care (CoCs) including Alameda, Contra Costa, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Solano, and Amador. The goal of the Roads Home program is to provide Veteran households who are experiencing or at risk for homelessness and/or food insecurity with the tools they need to find a permanent home and to attain and maintain self-sufficiency. Our Roads Home program, which is primarily funded through Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), Grants Per Diem (GPD), and Homeless Veterans Rehabilitation Program (HVRP) contracts, provides Veteran households experiencing or at risk for homelessness and/or food insecurity with the tools they need to find a permanent home and maintain self-sufficiency. Last year Insight Housing supported 1,467 Veterans and the average time-to-house from enrollment is approximately 5 months.

Community Meal

Insight Housing has the longest running free, weekday community meal program in the City of Berkeley (since 1970). Our guests include those who are low-income, unemployed, and people experiencing homelessness.

Community Meal is served at our Hope Center Facility. Each person receives one hot meal to eat right away, as well as bag lunch for later.

Our Meals Program also provides meals for the clients in at the Hope Center Transitional Housing and Berkeley Respite Program.

While we already had the largest and longest running food program in the area, during the pandemic our overall Meals Program and Community Meal went through its largest expansion in our 52+-year history and we are now serving an average of over 6,500 meals per month, nearly double the pre-pandemic amount.

Shelter Plus Care (S+C) is a housing subsidy program with ongoing tenancy support services (TSS). Client in this program are high-need, formerly homeless individuals with one or more disabilities. They live in their own homes, pay approximately 30% of their income towards rent, and receive support services to help them maintain their housing.

Services Offered:

- Rental assistance
- Home visits
- Life skills counselling
- Benefits advocacy
- Case management

Albany Project Hope uses Housing First and Harm Reduction philosophies to house and maintain stability for the chronically homeless and hardest to serve individuals and families in the City of Albany.

Insight Housing partners with the City of Albany to provide outreach, housing navigation and placement, and housing retention services to chronically homeless residents. Insight Housing also helps individuals prepare and apply for permanent supportive housing.

The HHIS program was built out of Project Safer Ground, one of our COVID response programs. HHIS is a partnership between Insight Housing, Alameda County, and Abode Services to transition clients through Abode Rapid Re-housing units and on into permanent housing with support service.

The Berkeley Respite Program is a partnership with the City of Berkeley to oversee and maintain 18 RV trailers and one shared house. The RVs are at two separate locations in Berkeley, 701 Harrison Street and 1281 University Avenue.

Insight Housing provides clinical case management to assist clients with housing placement and the procurement of rental vouchers, as well as providing operational services to the trailers and shared house. Operational services include daily wellness checks, the delivery of three meals a day, coordination of laundry services twice a week, and the provision of hygiene and cleaning supplies.

The Hope Center opened its doors in September 2022 and all programs are now fully enrolled and up and running. Insight Housing partnered with BRIDGE Housing and the City of Berkeley to build the Hope Center and Berkeley Way. The Hope Center, which serves residents from throughout Alameda County, offers 53 units of Permanent Supportive Housing for adults, 32 Men’s Shelter beds, and Transitional housing for 12 Veterans at any given time. This state-of-the-art development offers onsite offices for partner agencies Berkeley Mental Health and LifeLong Medical Care to allow clients to easily connect with supportive services, and the community kitchen and courtyard provides clients with opportunities to connect with peers and build community. The adjoining BRIDGE apartments provide affordable housing for at least 273 residents each year.

Insight Housing established a partnership with Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity, American Legion Post 178, Solano County, and the City of Rio Vista to build and operate this home for Veterans exiting homelessness. The residence is a 6-bedroom, 3-bath home in Rio Vista, and the first clients moved in February 2021. Rio Vista provides a permanent home with trauma-informed supportive services to help local Veterans transition out of homelessness.