Urgent need for 630 rental units and financial support to close $4M gap in funding 

Orange County, Calif. (February 15, 2022) – United to End Homelessness℠, an initiative of Orange County United Way, has launched the “A Place to Call Home” campaign to help house 630 households by June 2022. Facing a $4M gap in funding and an urgent need for 630 rental units, the campaign aims to inspire community support through both financial donations and rental unit referrals. The campaign has received a significant kick start from Newport Beach-based Tarsadia Foundation in the form of an unprecedented $1M lead gift.

“A Place to Call Home” campaign will benefit the organization’s WelcomeHomeOC℠ Program, which facilitates housing for those experiencing homelessness who have a housing voucher. If housing vouchers go unused or expire, it creates further challenges for Orange County’s fight to end homelessness – and underscores the urgency of the campaign.

“There is an immediate need for our community to get involved and help us ensure these individuals and families awaiting stable housing find a place to call home,” said Becks Heyhoe, Executive Director of United to End Homelessness. “This campaign is a call to action and a way to galvanize the community around how they can make an impact for our Orange County neighbors experiencing homelessness through fairly simple acts.”

Tarsadia Foundation is a global family foundation that has been active in service and philanthropic giving over the past 10 years. They are committed to supporting organizations like Orange County United Way who are unleashing human potential and helping communities thrive.

“Ending homelessness in Orange County is a vital initiative, and an attainable one with the full support of our community,” said Shirish Dayal, Executive Vice President of Tarsadia Foundation and a member of the United to End Homelessness Leadership Council. “Everyone deserves to have a safe and secure place to call home to achieve their full potential, and we hope this gift inspires others to help their fellow neighbors reach theirs.”

The community campaign is centered on two primary actions:

• Financial contributions of any dollar amount to help WelcomeHomeOC coordinate housing and cover essentials such as security deposits, moving expenses and basic furnishings.
• Rental unit referrals to locate an additional 630 units for the WelcomeHomeOC network before June 2022.

WelcomeHomeOC is a partnership with the County of Orange, local housing authorities, Apartment Association of Orange County, California Apartment Association, individual property owners and the service provider community. The program streamlines the process for apartment owners and provides incentives and support to property owners and managers, including funding for security deposits, unit holding costs, furnishings, and access to a damage mitigation fund. The program also ensures 12 months of case management and supportive services for our newly housed clients. Since inception, the program has housed more than 570 people through this effort, including over 100 veterans experiencing homelessness.

“Our team is working diligently with local housing authorities, community partners and homelessness advocates to house these 630 households who already have housing vouchers in hand,” Heyhoe added. “However, we know we cannot meet our goal without the support of the entire Orange County community. We are grateful to the Tarsadia Foundation for their generosity and we appreciate the role everyone can play to lead to meaningful and lasting results for these families and individuals in our community.”

To learn more about “A Place to Call Home” and make financial contributions, visit https://unitedtoendhomelessness.org/a-place-to-call-home.

To submit or refer residential rental units to the program, visit https://unitedtoendhomelessness.org/urgent-need-to-find-rentals or text (949) 669-4435.

For more information about United to End Homelessness, visit https://unitedtoendhomelessness.org/.

ABOUT UNITED TO END HOMELESSNESS
Launched in February 2018, United to End Homelessness is led by a diverse group of leaders from Orange County’s top business, philanthropic, governmental, faith-based and nonprofit organizations – all committed to ending homelessness in our community. Our work is grounded in bringing the recommendations of the 2017 UC Irvine study “Homelessness in Orange County: The Costs to Our Community” to life, with Orange County United Way serving as the backbone of this new collaborative effort. Together, we are working to bring the issue of homelessness to the forefront of the community’s collective discussion and create civic engagement that will lead to meaningful and lasting results. Together we can and we will #EndHomelessnessOC. For more information, please visit www.unitedtoendhomelessness.org.

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Media Contact: Heidi Pallares, hpallares@cornerstonecomms.com, (949) 285-7278