Village House FAQs
Q. What is Village House?
A. We exness are a nonprofit organization led by a network of religious assemblies and their volunteers located in Santa Clara County to provide a year-round rotating shelter for medically fragile women. Through the support of local religious assemblies and their volunteers, Village House is a transitional housing solution which provides our guests with a caring, loving environment while they attempt to stabilize their lives, secure employment, and move beyond their homelessness.
Q. What services does Village House Offer?
A. Village House addresses the needs of up to 15 medically fragile women through the provision of food, shelter, hygiene services, spiritual and part-time case management support.
Q. Who are the participating religious communities?
A. 15 partner organizations have agreed to work collaboratively to establish a rotating system of shelters. For a full exness reviews updated list, please check our shelters page.
Q. What hours are the shelters open?
A. The program will offer both overnight shelters and day centers. The day centers will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. The overnight shelters will operate from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Q. Who can stay at the shelters?
A. Our guests are referred to us by a professional social worker to ensure all participants can live in a community environment. All guests require a referral from professional social workers who work in the homeless system of care. Individuals who arrive without a referral will be provided with information about alternative solutions.
Q: Why do you only accept up to 15 medically fragile women?
A: At the time we started the program in January 2016, the City of San Jose had an ordinance that only allowed faith communities to shelter a maximum of 15 people for a maximum of 30 days. We chose to serve women because there are very few shelter beds for women in this county, and women are very vulnerable on the streets, especially those with complex medical conditions. We were thrilled when the City of San Jose changed the ordinance to allow faith communities to shelter up to 30 people for a maximum of 90 days. However, our exness .com collaboration includes small religious assemblies as well as big ones, and between the facilities we had available and the number of volunteers we needed for staffing, we felt that 15 was manageable. While we hope to expand someday in the future, we want to ensure that our current guests and volunteers have a high-quality experience and enough resources.
Q. Who will operate the shelters?
A. Each religious assembly will have a committee responsible for the management and operation of the shelter at their facility. Training, support, and guidance will be made available via a licensed social worker on a regular basis. Our shelter operations are built upon the support of our volunteers (18 years and older).
Q. How do I sign-up to volunteer?
A. Village House uses the SignUp.com online volunteer sign-up service. Go to our volunteer page and click on the link next to the current host church. Approximately 12 volunteers are required for Intake, Meals, Overnight and Medical needs each night of the overnight shelter, and 10 volunteers are required to staff each week at each daytime center. Volunteers are encouraged to consider signing up for the same shift each week of a shelter’s operation at one or more locations.
Q. Is there volunteer training required?
A. Training will be available for all volunteers.
Q. Are volunteers screened to ensure the security of both guests and volunteers?
A. Volunteers in positions of responsibility (site managers, shift supervisors, transportation support, etc.) will be required to complete a background check with fingerprinting. All other volunteers will be checked through the Megan’s Law Database.
Q. How is the Village House program funded?
A. Grants were received from the City of San Jose and the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real to fund the major cost of the program, the lease of mobile hygiene equipment consisting of a five-stall shower unit and two portable toilets that will be stationed at each overnight shelter. All other operating funds will be provided by donations from the partner organizations and other individuals and organizations.
Q. How can I donate to Village House?
A. Individuals or organizations can give a financial donation. Please make checks out to Village House Santa Clara County, CA and mail them to:
Village House
c/o Holy Spirit Parish
1200 Redmond Ave, San Jose, CA 95120
We also will gratefully accept prepaid cards for Albertson's, Costco, Safeway, Target, and Walmart. Donations of clothing or other supplies are respectfully declined, due to lack of transportation and storage space.
Q. Are additional religious organizations needed to host a month of the shelter?
A. Yes. There are opportunities still available to host either an overnight or daytime shelter. See the Village House website for contact information.
Q. Do you proselytize your guests?
A. Village House does not attempt to convert any of our guests. We welcome our guests at our services and will offer guidance if they request it.
Q. Where can I find out more about Village House?
A. You can learn more by exploring the rest of our website: https://www.villagehousesccca.com/ and following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.
A. We exness are a nonprofit organization led by a network of religious assemblies and their volunteers located in Santa Clara County to provide a year-round rotating shelter for medically fragile women. Through the support of local religious assemblies and their volunteers, Village House is a transitional housing solution which provides our guests with a caring, loving environment while they attempt to stabilize their lives, secure employment, and move beyond their homelessness.
Q. What services does Village House Offer?
A. Village House addresses the needs of up to 15 medically fragile women through the provision of food, shelter, hygiene services, spiritual and part-time case management support.
Q. Who are the participating religious communities?
A. 15 partner organizations have agreed to work collaboratively to establish a rotating system of shelters. For a full exness reviews updated list, please check our shelters page.
Q. What hours are the shelters open?
A. The program will offer both overnight shelters and day centers. The day centers will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. The overnight shelters will operate from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
Q. Who can stay at the shelters?
A. Our guests are referred to us by a professional social worker to ensure all participants can live in a community environment. All guests require a referral from professional social workers who work in the homeless system of care. Individuals who arrive without a referral will be provided with information about alternative solutions.
Q: Why do you only accept up to 15 medically fragile women?
A: At the time we started the program in January 2016, the City of San Jose had an ordinance that only allowed faith communities to shelter a maximum of 15 people for a maximum of 30 days. We chose to serve women because there are very few shelter beds for women in this county, and women are very vulnerable on the streets, especially those with complex medical conditions. We were thrilled when the City of San Jose changed the ordinance to allow faith communities to shelter up to 30 people for a maximum of 90 days. However, our exness .com collaboration includes small religious assemblies as well as big ones, and between the facilities we had available and the number of volunteers we needed for staffing, we felt that 15 was manageable. While we hope to expand someday in the future, we want to ensure that our current guests and volunteers have a high-quality experience and enough resources.
Q. Who will operate the shelters?
A. Each religious assembly will have a committee responsible for the management and operation of the shelter at their facility. Training, support, and guidance will be made available via a licensed social worker on a regular basis. Our shelter operations are built upon the support of our volunteers (18 years and older).
Q. How do I sign-up to volunteer?
A. Village House uses the SignUp.com online volunteer sign-up service. Go to our volunteer page and click on the link next to the current host church. Approximately 12 volunteers are required for Intake, Meals, Overnight and Medical needs each night of the overnight shelter, and 10 volunteers are required to staff each week at each daytime center. Volunteers are encouraged to consider signing up for the same shift each week of a shelter’s operation at one or more locations.
Q. Is there volunteer training required?
A. Training will be available for all volunteers.
Q. Are volunteers screened to ensure the security of both guests and volunteers?
A. Volunteers in positions of responsibility (site managers, shift supervisors, transportation support, etc.) will be required to complete a background check with fingerprinting. All other volunteers will be checked through the Megan’s Law Database.
Q. How is the Village House program funded?
A. Grants were received from the City of San Jose and the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real to fund the major cost of the program, the lease of mobile hygiene equipment consisting of a five-stall shower unit and two portable toilets that will be stationed at each overnight shelter. All other operating funds will be provided by donations from the partner organizations and other individuals and organizations.
Q. How can I donate to Village House?
A. Individuals or organizations can give a financial donation. Please make checks out to Village House Santa Clara County, CA and mail them to:
Village House
c/o Holy Spirit Parish
1200 Redmond Ave, San Jose, CA 95120
We also will gratefully accept prepaid cards for Albertson's, Costco, Safeway, Target, and Walmart. Donations of clothing or other supplies are respectfully declined, due to lack of transportation and storage space.
Q. Are additional religious organizations needed to host a month of the shelter?
A. Yes. There are opportunities still available to host either an overnight or daytime shelter. See the Village House website for contact information.
Q. Do you proselytize your guests?
A. Village House does not attempt to convert any of our guests. We welcome our guests at our services and will offer guidance if they request it.
Q. Where can I find out more about Village House?
A. You can learn more by exploring the rest of our website: https://www.villagehousesccca.com/ and following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.