Katina Harrison has noticed that when homeless people find housing they often have little to nothing to furnish their new dwelling. They move in without basic possessions such as a bed, furniture— even something as simple as soap and towels. The hollow space of their new home after years of living without shelter is almost a metaphor for the vacancies they may have experienced in their own lives.

“When we picture a house,” said Harrison, a case manager at Father Joe’s Villages, “we see a home with curtains, and dishes, toothpaste and utensils. That’s not real for someone un-housed. When they get a home it’s an empty canvas.”

A recently launched inter-agency funding initiative at Father Joe’s Villages, the Innova-tion Lab, is filling those empty canvases for recently-housed people as well as starting other programs based on needs staff members identified. In August, the lab awarded eight mini-grants, ranging from $1,478 to $7,000, to staff members who wanted to launch new programs. To fulfill some of the needs they saw, the staff members created programs that include safety training initiatives, shelter and housing resources, youth and children mentorship programs and a lice treatment clinic.

The regional Task Force on Homelessness found that almost 8,500 people are experi-encing homelessness across San Diego County, a 10% increase from 2020. Mayor Todd Gloria describes the solutions to homelessness as “complex.”

“Frontline staff know where the needs are,” said Bill Boldstad, the Chief Strategy Officer at Father Joe’s Villages. “So, we created an internal, staff-led grant process. A staff member ap-plies for a grant to a committee of their peers based on their experience and what that experi-ence tells them is needed.”

Harrison and a colleague, Michael Cruz, lead a Lab-funded effort called Home Club, a project that helps families in the Golden Hall Bridge Shelter find housing and turning that hous-ing into something that feels more like a home. The new program provides bus passes to fami-lies looking for housing and covers the costs of application fees. In addition, families enrolled in the program receive retailer gift cards so their new home can be furnished with kitchen ware, bedding and other essentials.

“Before the grant some clients had nothing,” Harrison said, “only the clothes on their backs. They didn’t have things in storage or a family holding stuff for them. We want our clients to feel comfortable. That first night in a new home, they should be able to take a shower be-cause they have soap, towels, a shower curtain — all the things most of us take for granted.”

Father Joe’s Villages grant writer, Aleta Barthell, directs another Lab-funded program: The Stories of Compassion, Respect, Empathy, Empowerment and Dignity in Action or CREED. Teams collect stories and photos throughout the organization to inspire both clients and staff.

One CREED narrative by case manager Rita Latham tells the story of an afternoon when she stood in a grocery line: I was in conversation with others in the line. How it got to employ-ment I don’t know. I mentioned I worked at Father Joe’s Villages and this woman went on about how wonderful [ Father Joe’s Villages ] was. She asked me if I knew “Rita,” I did not say that it was me. I didn’t know where she was going with this so I said, “Why?” She said that her daughter had been a resident here and that Rita changed her life. I was floored. She continued to say her daughter cleaned herself up and was doing incredibly well. She told me her daughter’s name and quite honestly it had been a while and I didn’t remember the client. But that was the moment I knew where I belonged. I changed someone’s life and didn’t even realize it. We help so many people daily and we never truly know what good we have done. I believe God set me up that day to find my purpose. I was working at the Paul Mirabile Center at that time, many moons ago. I’ve been here 15 years strong now, because of a conversation at the grocery store…go figure.

“CREED will allow us to learn about people through the sharing of stories of their work,” Barthell said. “It’s an example of a team effort on the part of all the staff. All these people work-ing to help and bring comfort. The idea is to celebrate the work, share stories and strengthen people so they know they are not alone.”

Home Club, CREED, and the six other projects of the Innovative Lab will receive funding through December, Boldstad said. He said the agency hopes to offer another cycle of inter-agency grants again.

“It fosters innovation, creativity and helps staff feel engaged and as having an impact,” he said. “A staff member can say, Look at my idea, look at what it accomplished.”