A future without homelessness is possible.

Your gift expands shelter, strengthens housing pathways, and builds sustainable funding in Santa Cruz County. Every dollar stays local.

A future without homelessness is possible. image

Beyond the Emergency. Toward the Solution.

Homelessness in Santa Cruz is one of the most visible and urgent challenges in our community, but it is also solvable. With some of the highest housing costs in the nation and more than 1,850 people unhoused across the county, too many of our neighbors are one paycheck, one medical bill, or one rent hike away from crisis. Seniors now make up nearly 40% of the unhoused, and racial inequities remain stark: Black residents represent 12% of those without housing, despite being just 1.5% of the population

At People First of Santa Cruz County, we believe housing is a human right and the starting point, not the reward, for stability, health, and dignity. Our model is simple but proven: low-barrier, Housing First, dignity-centered services that meet people where they are and help them take the next step toward a home. That includes 24/7 shelter, Safe Parking programs, bilingual navigation, case management, and Extreme Weather Shelter operations that protect hundreds of lives each year

We have proven we can house people. Now we need the infrastructure to make it stick.

Unite Santa Cruz is our campaign to meet this moment; fueling urgent services now while building the engine that will end the need for emergency response altogether. Every gift supports both immediate relief and the infrastructure for lasting change:

What Your Gift Powers

Immediate Stability

  • 24/7 Armory/Overlook Shelter (135 beds)
  • RV Safe Parking Program
  • Extreme Weather Shelter operations
  • Free Guides and bilingual navigation
  • Outreach-based case management

AND the infrastructure to scale what works:

Data that moves policymakers.
Real-time proof that our model works—so what we've proven in Santa Cruz can become policy across California.

Donors who free leaders to change systems.
Sustainable, relationship-based funding that lets leadership focus on advocacy, not just grant cycles.

Experts who bring on-the-ground solutions to Sacramento.
Local wisdom. Statewide scale. Systemic change.

“Homelessness here is not inevitable—it’s the result of systemic gaps. But it is solvable if we act together.” — Evan Morrison, Executive Director, People First Santa Cruz

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN: Download the Unite Santa Cruz Deck

Join us. Together, we can build a Santa Cruz where everyone is safe, supported, and housed.

If you would like to mail us a check, make it out to People First of Santa Cruz County and mail it to PO Box 7120, Santa Cruz, CA 95061

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We gratefully accept gifts through Donor-Advised Funds.