Saint John's Program for Real Change

A nonprofit organization

Since 1985, Saint John’s Program for Real Change has operated the largest residential program for women and children experiencing homelessness in the Greater Sacramento region, providing the tools necessary for clients to attain lives of well-being and economic self-sustainability. By addressing the root causes of homelessness through an immersive, comprehensive program, Saint John’s offers a path to economic prosperity for the most vulnerable members of our community, continuing to demonstrate that Real Change is possible when unhoused clients receive the support and services necessary to heal and address complex and cooccurring barriers to self-sustainability.

With the support of community partners and volunteers, Saint John’s provides services 24 hours/day, 365 days/year, offering shelter, meals, childcare, and comprehensive support services, including the following:

      - BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES: Client needs are met with up to 21 hours each week of substance use disorder treatment services, as well as comprehensive mental health and wellness programming. Individual, family, and/or group therapy are available for both women and children. For many, the experience of homelessness stems from, and exacerbates, addiction and mental health challenges. Developing positive coping strategies for trauma and other adverse life experiences is a critical component to improving health and stability. 

     - SUPPORTIVE SERVICES: Women receive individualized case management and courses on life-skills, financial literacy, parenting, and healthy relationships. Support is also provided to reunify families when children have been placed in protective custody.      

     - ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Over the course of our program, women gain up to 400 hours of hand-on employment training through our social enterprises, Red Door Desserts and Plates Catering. By learning responsibility, accountability, work ethic, and teamwork, women develop the skills for gainful employment.

     - CAREER EDUCATION: Our Career Education and Placement Center provides career guidance, employability workshops, high school diploma preparation and attainment, job readiness services, and computer literacy courses. As a result, formerly homeless women prepare to embark on a path toward a successful career.

     - CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING: While women are rebuilding their lives, their children receive childcare and after-school services, with the critical social/emotional needs of children being met by trained staff who support a child’s integration into a school community and support children in improving their academic and personal success. At Saint John's, families experience the benefits of living in a safe, structured, and predictable environment. 

In 2023, Saint John’s also launched a Housing Assistance Program offering financial assistance with rent payments or a security deposit. This program is available to any individual in the region regardless of gender who is experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of becoming homeless. Saint John’s also operates a Female Community Reentry Program for currently incarcerated women in partnership with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Mission

The mission of Saint John’s Program for Real Change is to provide a safe space for women and children to heal and develop the skills necessary to transform their lives. Our work is guided by a vision to end the generational cycle of trauma and homelessness.

Needs

Individual donations cover a large portion of our annual operating costs. As an example of what your contribution means to the women and children we serve:

$25 provides educational tools and craft supplies for children in need.

$50 provides a warm blanket, pillow, and sheets for one woman or child.

$100 provides shelter for a mother and her child for 24 hours.

$200 provides 108 nutritious meals.

$300 provides a mother and her child with full support for 24 hours, including housing, drug and alcohol counseling, mental health therapy, parenting education, and childcare.

$500 provides two weeks of nurturing daily childcare for a child in need.

$1000 provides hands-on employment training for one woman for one month.

Equity Statement

At Saint John’s Program for Real Change, a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace is one where all employees, clients, and volunteers, whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. Our human capital is the most valuable asset we have. The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and talent that our employees invest in their work represents a significant part of our organization’s success. Only by embracing our clients’ individuality and unique experiences can we encourage and assist in transformation and real change. Each employee, volunteer, and client has a unique story, needs, talents, motivation, and path to personal success.

Saint John’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is reflected in all of our human resource practices and policies. We promote community outreach to ensure those we serve reflect the scope of the homeless population in our region and our services are shaped by diverse stakeholder input. All employees of Saint John’s have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times. We pursue cultural competency throughout our organization by creating substantive learning opportunities, including training on providing trauma responsive and individuated care. We ensure that all voices are valued and heard. Diversity and inclusion are sponsored at the highest levels in the organization and recognized as a critical component of client and organizational success, with every level of the organization holding responsibility. Employees strive for awareness of their own unconscious and conscious bias and to ensure this does not manifest itself at work or in service of our clients. We strive to create an inclusive environment that embraces difference and fosters inclusion.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Saint John's Program for Real Change

Year Established

1985

Tax id (EIN)

68-0132934

Mission Category

Human Services

Operating Budget

$5,000,001-$10 million

Organization Need

Funding: Unrestricted, Volunteers, In-Kind Donations, Funding: Program

Demographics Served

Homeless/Underhoused/Unhoused, Low-income individuals/families, Women/Female-identifying

Local Counties Served

Sacramento, El Dorado, Placer, Yolo

Address

2443 Fair Oaks Blvd. #369
Sacramento, CA 95826

Service areas

Sacramento, CA, US

Phone

916-453-1482

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