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We are a 501c(3) non-profit organization; 100% of donations go directly toward providing services. Tax ID# 46-4162394

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We are a 501c(3) non-profit organization; 100% of donations go directly toward providing services. Tax ID# 46-4162394

Details: April 22, 2023

“Get a job” is a painful refrain that most of the unhoused have heard more than once. Not only did Lexie and Jacob actually have jobs, but they also were going to school full time. And Lexie found out this weekend that she made the honor roll, even while she was unhoused the entire time!

What does that look like? Every other day a $13 shower at a truck stop. Riding the light rail or bus during the day, getting off at midnight and then walking five miles to their jobs at the shipping company that started at 3:00 a.m. Then getting off work at 10:00 am to go to classes. Sleep for a couple of hours and start all over again. After three months of living outside, they were able to purchase a car. This at least gave them a sanctuary where they could sleep and keep their belongings.

Giving up was not an option. They wanted their children back. Not from the system, but from relatives who didn’t feel like living in a car gave children much security. A sad reality Lexie and Jacob knew was true.

HART met them at the Red Cross evacuation center during the floods. They had found a quiet place to sleep. Giving Up Pic

Bundled up with blankets over their heads, they almost seemed invisible until one day they asked, “What about us?”

The beauty of HART is that we see each person and their situation individually. With federal money still available from Covid we were able to aid them by paying their deposit and the first month’s rent on an apartment. They now savor the warmth and hot showers on demand that once were hard to find. Their new apartment is fully furnished with gently used furniture from HART. They have a great place for their kids to live. After six long months, Easter was their first day together as a family.

We are so proud of them! Lexie will be done with school soon while Jacob has finished and is working at his externship. One day soon, the shipping company will be in their past and professional jobs will be theirs. We’re so glad that HART could be there to help give them a step up into their new home.

Please be a part of the Big Day of Giving to help encourage those who feel forgotten and abandoned to keep moving forward. We’re thankful that Lexie and Jacob will no longer have to hear the ugly command, “Get a job!”

Big Day of Giving is just around the corner on Thursday, May 4th! But the donation link is live NOW!

Details: April 11, 2023

Her text read, "I just got the keys", but there was so much more to her story. Twenty years of domestic violence left her feeling no bigger than an amoeba. Yet her courage was awe inspiring. She said it was for her girls. Her two teenage daughters had witnessed their dad push their two-year-old brother down the stairs. They had watched their mom cower in fear, unable to defend herself or them from the onslaught of attacks. She had tried to leave once before after he broke her wrist but had no support and was too ashamed to ask.

With new resolve she stepped out of that door one more time, knowing that he would hunt her with a vengeance. One of HART's board members caught wind of her plight and reached out to her. HART put her and her family in a hotel that night and started looking for solutions, but we didn't have to look far. She was industrious, finding a good paying job and an apartment, but there was a glitch.

The day before her move in, the apartment complex refused to provide all the documentation necessary for her to access HART funds (grant money from the City of Elk Grove) to help with her deposit and first month’s rent. She was devastated. We were devastated! She had already paid to have PG&E and SMUD turned on. We had collected furniture for her new apartment. Now it all came to a screeching halt.

As we desperately started looking at other options, she refused to give up. The next morning, she drove to the apartment’s corporate headquarters to plead her case. They were closed. Dejected, she turned to walk away just as a woman walked out, a woman named Faith. After hearing her story Faith made a few phone calls and said it was all taken care of. The apartment was hers!

Over and over again she tried to express her elation, relief and gratitude. She said it best: "I jumped off a cliff and now I am flying!" She wants her children to live without fear and to grow up to be strong and courageous - just like their mom.

The Big Day of Giving is an opportunity to support people in our community who are struggling and have often lost hope. When they can barely stand, our dedicated volunteers help them learn to walk again.

Details: April 05, 2023

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Details: November 21, 2022

Details: September 16, 2022

Details: May 09, 2022

Sending you our “HART-felt” thanks for your su Blog 1100x733 thank you

pport of this year’s Big Day of Giving!

Thanks to incredibly generous donations from more than 90 donors from our EG HART community, we

raised more than $21,350 during the 24-hour Big Day of Giving 2022 - enough to support our transition

homes for most of the year!

Congratulations go out to David and Ginger Simpson who won the 2-night stay in a two-bedroom villa at the

Marriott Grand Residence in South Lake Tahoe. David and Ginger are long-time supporters of community non-profits and we are excited that this prize went to such a deserving couple.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, May 4, 2023 when EG HART will participate once again in the regional Big Day of Giving fundraising campaign. Until then, thank you from the bottom of our “HARTs” for your amazing generosity!

Details: May 03, 2022

COVID-19 had taken its toll on her family. Her in-laws grew tired of having the children underfoot all day and soon the pressure of living together proved too much for them. They were asked to leave.

Crisis Success It was a terrifying time for Lindsey and her family. Her 8-year-old was scheduled for surgery for his spina bifida and needed a stable place to recover. Her 2-year-old needed a safe environment to simply be a 2-year-old. Fears of Child Protective Services taking both children loomed in the back of her mind 24/7. She kept her situation a secret from the kids’ school to protect them from being removed from her custody. She was desperate with nowhere to turn.

Then she found Elk Grove HART, and her fears were diminished. It was a perfect match. She and her family moved into the Meadow House, into 2 bedrooms and a Jack and Jill bathroom. She and her husband in one room and the boys in the other. The walk-in shower was handicap accessible which allowed them to bathe their son after his surgery. He made a beautiful recovery and is back to walking.

Lindsey found employment and worked from the house during the day while her husband worked at night. This allowed them to both work and care for the children while they saved money. They have stabilized and done a great job of saving. This month they will be moving into their very own apartment!

Starting fresh is an exciting prospect for them. Lindsey says she has learned so much from the HART program. She was never taught to work hard or to save her money. She feels the life skills she has acquired during her stay at the Meadow House will help her live a lifestyle she can afford.

We are so proud of the hard work Lindsey and her husband have put into being successful. Life lessons, not only for them, but for her children too, who are always watching. Her goal is to break the chain of generational poverty that has plagued her family. She is well on her way to doing just that.

Elk Grove HART isn’t just about housing people, it’s about changing the trajectory of their lives. Please consider being part of the solution and donate generously on the Big Day of Giving. The donation link is open now at https://bigdayofgiving.org/elkgrovehart.

Details: April 28, 2022

I couldn’t help but express my admiration for her, she had held it together for so long. Legally blind due to her Type 1 diabetes, she continued to work full-time and care for her 6th grader who was thriving. For 9 years she had paid rent on time and drove to Fairfield every day for work. Life was hectic, but good and stable.

In the blink of an eye, last July, her world caved in. Her landlord wanted $2,600 for the 3-bedroom condo she had been renting for $1,250. To avoid eviction, she and her daughter had no choice but to live in their car. She searched for an apartment, but finding one proved to be impossible. They required her income to be 3 ½ times the rent and great credit. She had neither.

Her health started to spiral as her stress level caused her to lose sleep, yet she continued to work. She knew she needed her income if there was any hope for their survival. Bow Street Apartments

On September 10th she found her safety net and moved into one of our transitional family homes. She was finally able to breathe. Living in a house with 3 other families wasn’t easy. She had lived independently since she was 18. She and her daughter lived in a 10 X 10 room. However, she chose to be grateful and to do everything in her power to move up and out.

To that end, she quit her job in Fairfield and is now working from the office in the transitional house. Her endurance, strength and courage has paid off. She and her daughter will soon be moving into the Bow Street Apartments that are subsidized by the City, through developer fees. They are thrilled to soon be in their own place again. To aide them, one of our dedicated Elk Grove churches will be helping them to furnish their new place.

HART believes in working with our community to help care for those who are struggling. Would you consider being part of the solution? Please give generously to Elk Grove HART on the Big Day of Giving.

Details: April 21, 2022

Cliff Picture Standing on the edge of a cliff can be terrifying, especially when your children are standing on the edge with you. Sadly, many families in Elk Grove are facing this situation. In the poverty world, the Cliff Effect is a term used for families that are working, healthy and their kids are thriving, yet they are one terrifying step away from a disaster. The loss of a job, housing, their health, divorce, or some similar life event, can push them off that edge. We are facing a new Cliff Effect in Elk Grove and throughout the region, a lack of housing.

The Situation

We currently have 6 families in our transitional houses that are doing all the right things, - working, saving money and have decent rental histories. Yet, the competitiveness of the rental market has left them floundering. Several are running out of time a 2022 Flyer t our transitional houses with nowhere to go. They are hovering on the edge.

The Solution: Your help!

The City of Elk Grove has come up with a generous, innovative landlord incentive program to help our clients., yet they continue to be upstaged by more qualified applicants. We are facing a new unhoused population of families in our city and we need your help. If you know anyone who has a rental available, please contact us. And, please continue to support EG HART so we can come to the aid of these families. An amazing 98% of your financial donation goes directly to our unhoused services. Please give generously to our Big Day of Giving!

Find more information regarding the Landlord Incentive Program here: https://www.elkgrovecity.org/city_hall/departments_divisions/housing_loans/affordable_housing/landlord_incentive_program

“Big Day of Giving is coming soon! We are pleased to share that we are once again offering incentives for donors! If you donate $50 or more, you will be entered into a drawing for a two-night stay (Sunday and Monday, May 29 and 30) in a two-bedroom,

three-bath (1150 square feet) luxury residence at the Marriott Grand Residence Club, South Lake Tahoe. This is a $1500 value! Each $50 in your donation will earn a chance in the

drawing - for example, if you donate $100 you will earn two chances!

Please visit Elk Grove HART | GivingEdge (bigdayofgiving.org) to donate.

Details: April 12, 2022

Thomas Cross My heart broke as they loaded Thomas yet one more time into the ambulance. One of the young fire fighters complained to me, “Can’t you do something about him?” But the reminder to just keep loving him rang through my head. 

For years we had tried to help Thomas. He had stayed in our transitional house, the Grace House, but after a couple of months lapsed back into drinking. A few years later he stayed in a SSHH house for a couple of months but was so inebriated every day that he was finally asked to leave. Sadly, there was no other option than to live outside.  Penny Pass

But his life style was hard on his body. Several times he landed in the hospital for a few weeks with broken bones from falling which was then followed by months in a rehab center learning to walk again. His most recent hospital stay was different though. In June he broke his femur and his kidneys were shutting down. He said he was tired of living on the streets. After a lengthy stay in the hospital with a couple of operations and then again in a rehab, we decided to give Thomas yet another chance at the Grace House. 

We are thrilled to report that his transformation has amazed us all. He is making these beautiful crosses for all of those that helped him while he lived on the streets. It is our hope that Thomas will soon be moving into the Shasta Hotel program in Sacramento where he can live out the rest of his life. 

It has taken our HART team and our police and fire departments to help give him a new start in life. Trying to fix him wasn’t the answer, but caring for him was. That is what makes the HART organizations different from government programs. There is personal care paid to our unhoused neighbors. We all need a friend that we can lean on.

HART’s Big Day of Giving is on May 5th. Please consider giving generously to help us end homelessness one person at a time.