Name of program: Sanctuary’s Outreach Programs (Street Outreach, Safe Place, and Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Project)


What is the program’s goal? Sanctuary Outreach to the Streets (SOS) provides outreach to youth on the streets seven days/nights a week between the hours of 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. SOS identifies runaway, homeless and transient youth and assists them with access to basic needs (shelter, food, clothing and hygiene items), transportation to medical care and recreational activities, and linkages to other appropriate services. SOS conducts Leadership Institute for Teens (LIFT) on Thursdays from approximately 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. and staffs Youth Drop-In Center.


Safe Place provides access to immediate help and safety for all young people in crisis. The more than 270 Fresno area business and community partners are easily recognized by the yellow and black diamond-shaped logo prominently displayed in front of windows and include all Fresno Unified schools, WalMart stores, Circle K stores, Boys and Girls Clubs, Holy Cross Women’s Center, Poverello House, Neighborhood Resources Centers, City of Fresno Parks and Recreations Centers, United Way, and other youth-friendly sites. These Safe Place partners serve as an access point for troubled youth connecting them to EOC’s Sanctuary Youth Shelter; there, they can receive specialized services including counseling, residential assistance, and case management.


Another partner, Fresno Area Express (FAX), has designated every city bus as Safe Places. From any bus stop, a teen in crisis can board a FAX bus and inform the driver that s/he is in need of a “ Safe Place”. Those two words activate a special FAX policy that allows the youth to board the bus at no cost. The teen stays on-board until a route supervisor is dispatched to meet him/her at the next bus stop. From there, the adolescent is safely transported to the Sanctuary Youth Shelter in downtown Fresno.


Sanctuary’s Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Project provides small group presentations to youth 9 - 19 years old regarding the side effects, consequences and negative outcomes of Alcohol and Drug abuse.


When was the program established at EOC? Sanctuary Outreach to the Streets (SOS) program was established in 1998; Sanctuary’s Safe Place program was established in 1998;


Sanctuary’s Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Project began in 2005


Who do you help (client base)? Safe Place outreach targets runaway, homeless or displaced youth ages 11-17 through a network of Safe Place sites that serve as access points into the youth shelter. SOS targets transient runaway, homeless, and street youth ages 11 - 21. Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention targets high-risk youth, ages 9 - 19 years old.


What are the eligibility requirements? Outreach services targets youth, ages 11 - 21, who are experiencing crisis; Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention targets youth, ages 9 - 19 years old.


How many clients do you serve monthly/annually? The SOS program serves 300 street youth each year and has additional contact with hundreds of other transient street youth. An estimated 10,000 youth receive outreach and educational presentations in schools about the Safe Place program. Substance and Alcohol Abuse Prevention provides outreach services and classroom presentations to an estimated 800-1,200 youth.


Who is the current program manager? Joe Martinez, Community Relations and Outreach Manager


How many employees work for this program? 1 Program Manager; 2 Youth Outreach Workers; 4 EOC AmeriCorps volunteers; 2 California State University, Fresno, interns per semester; and various students and community volunteers.


Where is your office / are your offices located? 2336 Calaveras Street in downtown Fresno


Tell us about one of your “success stories” Former SOS client, JD Roberts was selected as Fresno County’s Youth Volunteer of the Year in 2006. JD also completed the TLC program, graduated from night school, and secured a job with the City of Fresno. In 2007, Safe Place outreach youth worker, Fabian Ramirez, received the “Youth Volunteer of the Year” Award for his 1,000 hours of volunteer service. Two TLC residents were selected as top 25 winners of a national art contest sponsored by the National Safe Place Office and have their entries published in a 2008 youth publication.


Anything else you’d like to tell us about your program? Sanctuary is the only Safe Place program in the nation to designate an entire school district (103 campuses) as a Safe Place. Fresno helps more kids via Fresno Area Express than all 21 other cities combined who use their transit system as a mobile safe place; nearly 400 youth have received help from FAX. Sanctuary is the only program in the nation to receive four national awards by the National Safe Place Office in the past eight years, including Coordinator of Year, Business of Year, Volunteer of Year, and Most Involved Site of Year.