Community Alternative Response & Engagement (CARE)
Through our Community Alternative Response & Engagement (CARE) homeless outreach teams, we offer vital support and assistance to unhoused people throughout Marin County. We are often the first point of contact for people experiencing homelessness and help them in simple ways like wellness checks, bringing people food, socks or sleeping bags, or transportation to a detox center, homeless shelter or hospital.
Encounters can take place over many months or even years, building trust until individuals are receptive to accessing services. Once trust has been built, we connect people in need with mental health services, housing programs, and other supports on the path to becoming permanently housed and stabilized. We work with an end-goal of successfully transitioning homeless clients to a system of care, mental health services, housing programs like the County’s Odyssey program, and permanent housing.
Our team is staffed by trained Peer Outreach Specialists, and include people who have personal lived experience of mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, or incarceration. They bring an invaluable first-hand experience of their own struggles on the street, and are trained to intervene with people suffering from mental illness or intoxication.
We are partners in the County-wide effort to end homelessness in our community.
Help for the Unhoused
Frequently Asked Questions
Our mobile CARE (Community Alternative Response & Engagement) Teams can be contacted by calling 415.526.7500.
Our Peer Outreach Specialists build trust conducting simple wellness checks and providing basic needs like food, socks, sleeping bags, or transportation to a detox center, homeless shelter, or hospital. Once trust is built, we connect people to mental health services and housing programs. We work with an end-goal of successfully transitioning homeless clients to a system of care, mental health services, housing programs like the County’s Odyssey program, and permanent housing.
Our teams are staffed by trained Peer Outreach Specialists, including those who have personal lived experience of mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, or incarceration. They bring invaluable first-hand experience of their own struggles on the street and are trained to intervene with people suffering from mental illness or intoxication.
