When you meet Lorraine Cervantes, you immediately realize that she is on a path to success. Now that Lorraine is housed through SHRA’s P3 Program (Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth), she is ready to take on the next phase of her life to achieve her goals.
When you meet Lorraine Cervantes, you immediately notice the warmth and positivity that radiates from her and realize that she is on a path to success. Now that Lorraine is housed through SHRA’s P3 Program (Performance Partnership Pilots for Disconnected Youth), she is ready to take on the next phase of her life to achieve her goals.
Lorraine has had to overcome many challenges in her life. She grew up in foster care during her teen years and experienced constant instability in her living environment. “Being in foster care made me feel like all I wanted was to be accepted somewhere.” She became emancipated at 16 and later re-entered foster care to go back to school. But once she turned 18, Lorraine was asked to leave her foster home and has since been living on her own.
SHRA began administering the P3 program in 2018 to assist homeless youth aged 18-24 and youth at risk of homelessness by removing federal or programmatic barriers so they can achieve employment and/or educational goals to become self-sufficient. Three partner agencies serving Sacramento are unique among P3 awardees in committing themselves to addressing the issue of homelessness while simultaneously working with the youth to achieve the other program-specific goals (education and employment). SHRA allocated up to 100 housing choice vouchers to house the homeless youth served by P3 with resources provided by partner agencies that serve 1) parenting youth, 2) primarily single homeless youth, and 3) youth transitioning out of foster care. Sacramento’s P3 program utilizes a “housing first” model while the youth receive casework support with their education and employment goals.
Before Lorraine entered the P3 program and received a housing voucher, she was struggling to find a place to stay. “I was going through a lot of hardships. Everybody was shutting the door on me. Even when I was as young as six years old, nobody wanted me to stay at their house. Having a bed to go home to every night is all I ever wanted.”
While transitioning into the P3 program, Lorraine stayed at the shelter operated by Wind Youth Services which gave her a foundation that allowed her to work on her career and educational goals. She currently works as a security guard but it’s always been her dream to work at a hospital in the nursing field. SHRA has issued 56 vouchers and housed 30 youths who remain stably housed. “Having my own place to stay has been amazing. It’s very peaceful and nice to go home and not worry about any stress. It is a place where there is no drama and I really love living here.”