OUR CHARITIES

Pacific Grove Youth Center

Pacific Grove Youth Center, the Nodilo Building, is a multi-story building which houses youth and teen programs, as well as the Recreation Administration Office. It is open to Pacific Grove students in grades 6-12 Monday-Friday during the school year, and hosts the Adventure Day Camp for children ages 6-12 during the summer and school breaks. The Youth Center provides pool and ping pong tables, high definition televisions, a computer lab, and a video game area. There is also a basketball court outside and a snack bar inside.

Veterans Transition Center of California

The mission of VTC is “to empower Veterans to transition from crisis to self-sufficiency.” Since 1996, this 501c3 non-profit has operated on the old Fort Ord complex to provide homeless Veterans and their families with food, clothing, case management, life skills, substance abuse counseling, benefit enrollment, medical referrals, employment training, and housing.

Under the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) guideline of “Housing First,” VTC operates multiple housing programs through three federal agencies. Currently, VTC has the following programs on-site:

Emergency Housing: Gets Veterans off the streets and keeps them for up to sixty days. One duplex with ten beds funded through the VA Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV). The average bed days over the past year is 249 per month.

Transitional Housing: This allows Veterans and family members to stay for up to two years. This VA Grant Per Diem contract began in 2003 and was expanded in 2007, now totaling 58 beds. There are three VA-specific programs as part of this housing program: Bridge, Clinical, and Service Intensive. The average number of bed days for the past year is 274, 384, and 966 per month. VTC has had an occupancy rate of 89 – 97% at any time in the past year.

Permanent Supportive Housing (No end date to the lease): Currently, there are 12 single-room occupancy beds in this program. Residents pay through the Department of Housing and Urban Development Veterans Assistance for Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) voucher programs, or, if over income, with a very low percentage of income as required by the local housing authority.

Through measured growth and increased outreach, VTC seeks to end Veteran homelessness in Monterey County. This is possible in the next two years, as VTC will champion the drive to “Functional Zero” to make certain no Veteran is left behind.