True North Housing Alliance is a major provider of homeless aid in Chico. It runs the Torres Community Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in the area, and is looking to grow even more.
It's been constructing the Howard Slater Navigation Center, which aims to be a one-stop-shop for homeless aid and case management services. Construction is well underway, and True North is looking to secure donors and grants to help get the project across the finish line.
"We have the very good problem of having outgrown our space," said Torres Community Shelter Executive Director Taylor Bunch. "Currently, we don't really have space to adequately provide one-on-one care or consultation with clients. And a lot of what folks are working on is very private and very emotional, and so we really need that space."
True North has expanded its services over the last two years to include a street outreach program, and follow-up case management and training after a client secures housing to help them keep it. The latter has shown to be effective in helping clients stay housed.
"We're not surprised to find that a lack of life skills, social isolation and loneliness, and a lack of community, were the main causal factors for returning to homelessness," Bunch said. "So we used data to understand that, and then put our thinking caps on. We were like, 'Okay, we can address those things!'"
Bunch said clients enrolled in those programs have a 93% housing sustaining success rate.
The Navigation Center will make a dedicated space for these services and others. It will also provide a space for county departments like employment and social services.
True North will be holding a pickleball tournament as a fundraiser to support the center's construction later this month. The center is expected to open in August.
