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Urban Street Angels

Our mission is to end youth homelessness by providing supportive housing and job training opportunities to cultivate personal responsibility.

Urban Street Angels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2012 to help tackle youth homelessness in the San Diego, California area.

We began as a small group of volunteers hitting the streets of San Diego several times a month with backpacks of supplies and home cooked meals. We quickly discovered that San Diego has many organizations and resources dedicated to feeding and supplying the homeless, but very few geared to young adults. And particularly, a key service was missing: supportive housing and job training programs for transition-aged youth (“TAY”, 18 – 25 years old) to help them off the streets with a hand up.

Based on these firsthand experiences, we made it our mission to address that need. Today, we operate in three related areas – all serving the homeless TAY living on the streets in our community.

First, we operate supportive housing programs in partnership with the County of San Diego – Behavioral Health Services. Our Short-term and Bridge housing (“STBH”) program is a 32-bed independent living facility that provides supportive housing for homeless TAY seeking to leave the streets behind for good. Our Just Be U (“JBU”) program is a 15-bed independent living facility featuring an array of innovative, holistic services for homeless TAY who have yet to connect with available social services.

Second, we operate a new supportive housing program in partnership with the Regional Taskforce on the Homeless. Our YHDP program is a 24-bed independent living facility with both transitional housing and rapid re-housing features. The program clients in our YHDP program are 18 – 24 years old.

And third, we provide vital job skills training and transitional employment opportunities for our program clients through social enterprise programs, including 8 West. At 8 West, motivated TAY learn how to become more employable while handcrafting a line of premium bath shower and spa products. In 2020, we also plan to launch a café at our USA Center in downtown San Diego. The café will provide additional job skills training for the TAY in our supportive housing programs. The goal of these social enterprise programs is always the same: to develop a more employable workforce while cultivating personal responsibility.

At Urban Street Angels, we work exclusively with TAY. Most of our program clients have experienced years of abuse, trauma, and harsh conditions while living on the streets. In order to be successful, our model requires carefully rebuilding the bonds of trust, and providing hope along the way. In our programs, homeless TAY receive the support, training and confidence necessary to leave the streets behind for good.

Urban Street Angels is supported through the generosity of our grassroots donors, private and public foundations and organizations, and valued partnerships with the County of San Diego – Behavioral Health Services and the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.