Homeless Survival Services

SLF HOMELESS SURVIVAL SERVICES

As the largest homeless service provider in Sacramento, Loaves & Fishes (SLF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing congregate meals and essential homeless survival services for nearly 1,000 homeless adults and children daily. Our 16 intramural programs are offered year-round and entirely free of charge. To keep our services barrier-free, we do not solicit or accept government funds. Instead, we are supported exclusively by the generous contributions from individual and private philanthropic partners within and beyond the greater Sacramento community. In the spirit of radical hospitality modeled after activist and leader, Dorothy Day, we refer to the unhoused people seeking our services as “guests.” Thus, creating a space of unconditional welcome, respite, and belonging.

Established in 1983, SLF began as a service-minded ministry serving the poor and hungry. Today, we are a well-established charitable organization on a 4.5-acre urban campus located in the heart of downtown Sacramento. We provide daily comprehensive services to those with the greatest need — men, women and children from all walks of life experiencing homelessness, extreme poverty, and food/nutrition insecurity. As a core value, we serve our guests with respect, dignity, compassion, and without judgment, barriers, or restrictions. Serving guests from both Sacramento and Yolo counties, our programs and services are run in collaboration with staff, volunteers, and community partners to strengthen the connection between our guests and the broader community. Many SLF staff and volunteers have lived experience with homelessness, economic insecurity, and food insecurity. In 2024, we served 124,659 meals and provided nearly 10,000 unhoused men, women, and children with vital survival services.

 SLF provides a comprehensive and compassionate continuum of care—all free of charge—designed to meet urgent and long-term needs of people experiencing homelessness and hunger. Through a wide range of integrated, on-campus programs, we address essential survival needs while fostering stability, empowerment, and dignity. Our programs include:

Dining Room: Open 364 days per year, we serve up to 800 nutritious midday meals daily—often the only meal of the day for many guests. Families and children have access to a dedicated dining space.

Friendship Park: The gateway to SLF’s campus. Our park is a safe, welcoming outdoor environment where adult guests can access meals, showers, restrooms, survival supplies, and community connection.

Maryhouse: A no-barrier daytime shelter for women and families offering food, hygiene care, showers, survival supplies, personalized case management, and specialized support for survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking.

Mustard Seed School: SLF’s private emergency school for children ages 3–15 experiencing homelessness. Our school provides a safe, loving, personalized, trauma-informed education; meals, school supplies, counseling, and health screenings to ensure healthy childhood development and seamless transition into public schools.

Sister Nora’s Place: Long-term supportive housing for women overcoming chronic homelessness, trauma, and health challenges. Residents receive private living spaces, case management, counseling, and life skills training, with no predetermined length of stay.

Genesis Mental Health Services: Trauma-informed counseling, crisis intervention, and therapeutic care promoting improved health outcomes, health equity, and holistic, client-centered healing.

Mercy Clinic: Offers primary and urgent medical care, health navigation, and coordination with Sacramento County health services. Improves health equity and expands our regional health care safety net.

Legal Clinic & Community Service: Provides legal aid for infractions, warrant checks, and community service options as alternatives to incarceration.

Jail Visitation: Offers compassionate outreach and emotional support to incarcerated individuals through trained staff and volunteers.

Additional Onsite Programs/Services Include:
• Library with computers and reading materials.
• Spokes and Wrenches bicycle repair, parts, and education program.
• Side by Side nondenominational spiritual companionship.
• Anneke’s Haven kennel and Mercer Veterinary Clinic providing care for guests’ pets.
• Advocacy initiatives promoting housing and economic justice through community-led action.

 WHO WE SERVE

Capturing specific demographic information on unhoused individuals is sometimes difficult due to the elusive and transient nature of homelessness and an understandable fear amongst homeless individuals of sharing personal information. However, the diverse populations we serve typically align with demographic data captured in our regional Point in Time Counts (PIT). 100 percent of the guests we serve are food insecure and living far below federal, state, and regional poverty lines. The individuals and families we serve come from homeless shelters, makeshift camps, cars, the streets in general, or along buildings and sidewalks adjacent to our campus. Hunger, safety, respite, clean restrooms, and shower facilities are often entry points for our guests to seek other homeless services and support we provide.

 Demographics (2025)

 Race/Ethnicity

• African-American/Black 40%

• Asian/Pacific-Islander 3%

• Caucasian/White 36%

• Latino/Hispanic 13%

• Mixed Ethnicities 5%

• Native American 3%

• Untracked 0%

 

Gender identity

• Male 55%

• Female 40%

• Transgender 5%

 

Age

• Children (ages 0-17) 11%

• Adults (Ages 18-64) 76%

• Seniors (Ages 65 and over) 13%

 

GOALS, OBJECTIVES, OUTCOMES

 1. Provide Immediate and Long-Term Stability

• Ensure guests experiencing homelessness have immediate, continuous

access to no-cost essential, barrier-free homeless survival services.

2. Foster a Safe, Nurturing, and Trauma-Informed Environment

• Maintain a calm, welcoming, non-judgmental environment that supports safety, respite, self-regulation, and hope.

• All staff/volunteers will be trained in trauma-informed care and responsive practices.

• Offer counseling and social-emotional support on-site.

3. Promote Independence and Self-Efficacy

• Our programs and services cultivate autonomy, self-sufficiency, and confidence.

• Encourage guests to make meaningful choices, developing a sense of control and agency often lost in unstable environments.

4. Address Whole-Person Healing and Development Through Personalized Wraparound Support

• Provide a holistic approach to overall wellbeing through integrated social, emotional, and physical health.

5. Provide Nutritional and Health Support

• Offer daily nutritious meals and snacks.

• Partner with healthcare providers to ensure access to medical, dental, and mental health services.

6. Strengthen Family Engagement and Empowerment

• Support families with resources for housing stability, food security, and parenting support.

• Provide parent resources and host family workshops that promote stability and connection.

• Maintain open, compassionate communication with families in crisis.

7. Build Community Partnerships

• Collaborate with shelters, social service agencies, and community partners to create a wraparound support network for children, families, and adults.

• Serve as a model for homeless services programs.

8. Ensure Academic Readiness and Continuity (For Homeless Children)

• Align Montessori curriculum with state educational standards to support smooth transitions into public or permanent schooling.

• When applicable, track academic progress to promote continuity despite frequent moves.

9. Promote Cultural and Personal Respect

• Embrace diversity and celebrate each guest’s identity, background, and lived experience.

• Integrate cultural awareness and peace education into our campus culture

• Use qualitative and quantitative assessments to evaluate program effectiveness.

• Gather feedback from guests, volunteers, and staff to guide ongoing improvement and innovation.

 

HOW FUNDS WILL BE SPENT

Grant funding from the Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation will have a profound impact on our efforts to provide free, comprehensive, life-sustaining services to over 10,000 adults and children annually who are experiencing homelessness in Sacramento County. Your contribution will enable continued access to essential basic needs—such as congregate meals, healthcare, personal hygiene care and supplies, and safe sanctuary—ensuring no one seeking support is turned away. By offsetting rising operational costs, your support will allow us to maintain consistent meal service and program delivery, thus providing stability and dignity to those in crisis.

Beyond meeting immediate survival needs (purchase of food; supplies such as clothing, personal hygiene kits, sleeping bags, tents, etc.) grant funds will support our critical health and wellness services as we strive to advance health equity and expand our regional health care safety net for Sacramento’s homeless individuals and families. Your funding will enable us to continue offering essential on-site medical and behavioral health care, addressing chronic health conditions and mental health challenges that often go untreated among homeless populations. Legal aid services, also strengthened through grant funding, will help guests overcome barriers to housing, employment, and family reunification. Our beloved Mustard Seed School, a private, on-campus emergency school for homeless children ages 3-15, will receive vital support and provide unhoused children a safe, stable, and nurturing environment that promotes stimulating learning, a strong trauma-informed Montessori education, medical/mental health care and screenings, and healthy early childhood development. Funds will help purchase classroom materials, food, school supplies for each child, medical supplies, etc.

Additionally, funding will help sustain our community outreach and advocacy efforts, amplifying the voices of individuals experiencing homelessness and influencing local policy for housing justice and systemic change. A small portion of your gift will aid our kennel and veterinary pet care services, ensuring homeless families can remain together with their companion animals—often their sole source of emotional support.

Through expanded, unfettered access, and coordinated care, SLF’s homeless survival services/programs aim to improve health outcomes and overall quality of life while offering a sustainable and replicable model to reduce inequities and promote long-term wellbeing for people experiencing homelessness.