Housing for Health Division

Our Mission

Build partnerships and promote strong collaborative action to ensure all residents within the County have stable, safe and healthy places to live.

Homelessness severely impacts the health and quality of life of those living without homes and the entire community. The County of Santa Cruz, cities within the county, and community members recognize the critical role that collaboration will play in addressing homelessness.

The Santa Cruz County Housing for Health (H4H) Division formed in November 2020 to bring together a coalition of partners and resources focused on preventing and ending homelessness within the County. H4H is a relatively small division in the Human Services Department focused on building consensus around solutions to prevent and end homelessness, mobilizing and increasing community resources, and strengthening the capacity of individuals and organizations to accomplish lasting change.

The H4H Division is responsible for the following areas:

  • Providing staffing support to the Continuum of Care (CoC) – Housing for Health Partnership
  • Supporting implementation of the Housing for a Healthy Santa Cruz Strategic Framework
  • Building and supporting a system of resources for preventing and ending homelessness
  • Advocating for and promoting efforts to close the housing affordability gap in the County

Learn more about us.

To aid in this effort, the County and its partners created the Housing for a Healthy Santa Cruz County Strategic “Framework” through a shared process that used the experience, knowledge and input of a broad set of community stakeholders including cities, non-profit organizations, County Departments and people with lived experiences of homelessness. Work on it began in March 2019 with a review of current local efforts and data on homelessness, along with an evaluation and discussion of experiences in other communities.

The Framework outlines coalition action steps designed to reduce unsheltered and overall homelessness countywide by January 2024. H4H provides leadership and the backbone administrative support for implementation of this Framework.

Contact Us

Questions? You can reach the Housing for Health Division at housingforhealth@santacruzcountyca.gov or 831-454-7312.

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Become a Member

The Housing for Health Partnership is open to any person or organization committed to a collaborative impact effort focused on ensuring all residents within Santa Cruz County have stable, safe, and healthy places to live. Members gain access to:

  • Invitations to participate, learn and provide feedback at community meetings
  • Chances to express opinions through surveys and voting opportunities
  • Opportunities to become a member of a work group or committee working on specific issue areas
  • Events to network with others working on a shared goal

And more! Apply Today