In 2021, 10,030 students

were homeless

in Monterey County

Every student in our schools needs a place to call home, please donate today to provide permanent housing opportunities for local students and their families.

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Looking for a solution

Help us provide long-term housing for school-aged Cam Wontan homeless children.

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Research

Housing insecurity is traumatic and has long-term effects.

More than 13% of the 74,700 students enrolled in Monterey County school districts are homeless. Whether sleeping in a car, a tent, or on the living room floor of another family’s house, these children are experiencing the trauma of housing insecurity.
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Struggling kids are either our responsibility today or everyone’s responsibility tomorrow. If we do not help our kids, the lasting impact of childhood trauma will cause long term consequences for them as adults.
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Homelessness is the number one cause of students not graduating and those without a high school degree are 346% more likely to experience homelessness in the future. The time to act is now.

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Research

The Importance
of Home

Housing is crucial to health and well-being. A place to call home is the anchor of civic life in our communities, a hub from which to attend school, visit the public library, enjoy our parks and recreational spaces, go to church, join a sports team. Without that base, families and individuals are extremely handicapped in their ability to function successfully. Building an engaged and robust citizenry starts with people being secure in their places, persons and things. Supporting this kind of stable experience for elementary and high school students is critical to a solid future for all of us.

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Our Mission

Find and implement sustainable solutions to housing insecurity

Family housing that working parents of school-aged children can afford is needed now.

Provide affordable housing for homeless students and their families

Investors are needed for property acquisition, both existing buildings and new construction, to contribute to the stock of affordable rental units for these working families.We need property owners who are willing to contribute rental units to this effort. Our housing partner will lease or own all donated units, handling property management and resident services.

Raise public awareness about the root causes of this crisis

The fair market monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit in Monterey County is $2,675. With a $15/hour minimum wage, a parent cannot afford this rent. Homelessness increases sharply when a family is spending more than 30% of their income on rent. A family must make $9,000 per month to pay this amount of rent. That is more than three full-time jobs. Low wages in our hospitality and agricultural industries, home health care, and landscape maintenance result in hard-working parents whose school children are in crisis.Many families are one paycheck away from eviction. The facts need to be known and corrective action taken.

Support those in the field already serving this population.

Many people in local government agencies, in nonprofits, in public office and in faith-based communities are actively addressing the needs of those who are homeless every day. Monterey County has a robust Coalition of Homeless Services Providers that works to coordinate efforts of all entities working in this field. The county has it's first coordinator of homeless response, Roxanne Wilson. All agree: Units of affordable housing are needed now. H4K wants to work with you to meet that need.

MYTH BUSTING

80% have been homeless for 5 + years.

Contrary to common perception, 80 percent of the homeless are people who have lived in our county for five years or more. Many have jobs, but still cannot afford the cost of rentals in our county where the housing is expensive. Much of our homelessness is attributable to the low wages in our main industries of hospitality and agriculture, combined with a costly and insufficient housing supply.

Founding Members

Appalled by these shocking number of school aged who are homeless, a group of concerned citizens have come together to help solve this crisis.
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We come from all walks of life- our ranks are comprised of people from a diversity of backgrounds, all connected in our commitment to ensure every school aged child has a home in our community.

Sandra Leader

Sandra is the executive director of the Franklin Legacy Fund, which focuses its efforts on child and youth homelessness. She is a writer and editor with over 30 years of experience in print journalism including at the San Francisco Chronicle and The Herald where she was editor of food and lifestyle magazines.

An associate minister at the Center for Spiritual Awakening, she has facilitated retreats and workshops on personal growth and development for 20 years.

Aimee Mountford

Aimee built her career as a professional communications expert from her humble beginnings as a qualified CPA… then working for Deloitte as an auditor and then to the tech industry transforming through finance to investor relations and then into corporate communications where she led teams for two of the largest tech companies on the planet Cisco Systems and latterly Apple, serving the President of Cisco and the COO of Apple directly. She helped lead this critical function through business strategy, global product launches and internal
communications.

She started a communication consulting firm called Bad Language in 2017 to share the experience she had with up and coming company executives for building speeches or coaching on methodologies to make good speakers great.

Karen Osborne

During her career in health care administration and psychology, Karen served on many boards in the Bay Area, including the Salvation Army Board and it's family shelter, Senior Action Network, and several other organizations. She and her husband have strong ties to this community. They are fortunate to have not had to worry about homelessness as they raised their four children. It is hard for a parent to imagine.

Marty Fleetwood

Marty [Martha] Fleetwood is the Founder of Homebase/The Center for Common Concerns, a law and social policy organization dedicated to eradicating homelessness.

Since 1986, as long-term Executive Director of Homebase, Marty has supported the leadership of federal, state and local leaders in understanding the causes of homelessness, and the pathways to solutions. As a civil rights lawyer, she has promoted legislative solutions, administrative remedies, and led innumerable strategic planning processes in venues nationwide, including in Monterey County. Recently retired to Monterey, 100-year home of her husband David Duveneck’s family, she is volunteering with Housing4Kids.

Ann-Marie Borelli

Ann-Marie is a transformative technology leader informed by 35+ years of global experience in IT, Finance, Operations and Sales spanning various industries.

Ann-Marie is a transformative technology leader informed by 35+ years of global experience in IT, Finance, Operations and Sales spanning various industries

Committee Leaders

Fundraising
Ann Marie Borelli

Coordination and Data Management
Marty Fleetwood

Internal Administration
Karen Osborne

Public Communication
Aimee Mountford

Community Connections
Joan Costello

Housing
Betsy Wilson and Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Join Us in Finding Solutions

Housing for Kids meets every other week on Monday afternoons. If you would like to work with us, there are lots of opportunities. Have a little time and a big heart? Contact us at HousingforKids@gmail.com