First Step for Families
The LifeMoves | First Step for Families provides emergency and transitional housing for homeless families.
LifeMoves | First Step for Families
325 Villa Terrace (Map)
San Mateo, CA 94401
Phone: 650-340-8814
Donation Drop-off Hours:
Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m – 12 p.m.
Services
LifeMoves programs are free of charge for the people we serve and our team provides far more than temporary shelter. In exchange, mandatory and full engagement in our programming is required by all participants. Hard work and accountability are the norm. We expect people to succeed and they do. Last year, 92% of families and 78% of individuals who completed our transitional housing programs returned to stable housing and self-sufficiency.
LifeMoves programs teach homeless adults the life skills they need to find a rapid and lasting return to stable housing and long-term self-sufficiency. For homeless families with children, our additional goal is to inspire children (and their parents) to aim for higher education to increase their opportunity to earn higher wages which will enable them to become more financially secure as adults. This illustrates our goal of breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty and one of its most visible symptoms: homelessness.
Our clients will engage in an extensive collection of life-changing supportive services expertly coordinated by dedicated and experienced Case Managers and other direct services staff.
- Case Management: Our trained Case Managers support clients’ unique needs, helping them manage budgets, connect with resources, and make active progress toward regaining stable housing
- Job and Housing Search Assistance: Staff and volunteers provide clients with training, tools, and resources to find and secure employment and housing they can afford
- Financial Literacy and Savings: We teach clients to manage a personal budget and to save for emergency needs. Clients in the LifeMoves transitional housing program must save at least 50% of their income
- Childrens’ Services: Our therapeutic childcare centers, S.T.E.M.-based curricula, after-school homework club, and art therapy programs help children and youth overcome the trauma of homelessness, continue their education and open their eyes to the possibilities offered by higher education, all in a stable and healthy environment
- Mental Health support: Anxiety and depression are common for adults and children experiencing the trauma of homelessness. Supervised by 2 Ph.d. Psychologists, all of the people we serve get immediate mental health support while in our programs and we do an excellent job of connecting our clients to longer term help in the community upon program completion
- Life Skills Education: We equip our clients to achieve and maintain long-term self-sufficiency by teaching them life skills through nightly workshops on financial literacy, parenting, nutrition, and other life skills
- Direct Client Assistance: We also assist our clients with practical support: basic car/bicycle repairs to assure reliable transportation to work/school, bus, train, BART and other transportation passes, fees for college and university applications, assistance with tuition and/or certification testing fees, etc. We have clothing closets to help our clients dress for success for work and job interviews, and for attending school and even social events. Upon program completion, to continue to save money, our clients move into their new residences with a generous supply of donated linens, kitchen supplies, dishes, silverware, pillows, small appliances, toiletries, clothing, and in many cases donated furniture. The critical lessons of savings and financial literacy are firmly ingrained
In summary, hard work, commitment and accountability are required from the homeless men, women, and children we serve. In return, LifeMoves provides safe, clean and modern living spaces, nutritious food, counseling and mental health supportive services, therapeutic childcare and after-school activities, job and housing search assistance, and additional Program services.
How You Can Help
Donate: LifeMoves services are only made possible through generous financial support from the community year-round. Your gift ensures that we may continue to provide housing and supportive services to thousands of homeless children and adults.
Volunteer: LifeMoves relies on the generous time and talent of over 15,000 volunteers annually. Every person has volunteer skills to offer, such as teaching workshops, tutoring students, organizing donations, preparing meals, and much more.
Provide a Meal: Prepare and serve a nutritious meal for the families at First Step for Families!
In-Kind Donations
See the In-Kind Donation Wish List here. Your donations are given directly free-of-charge to the homeless families and individuals in our programs to help them on their path to stable housing and self-sufficiency.
Please only donate goods in new or gently-used condition. We reserve the right to refuse inappropriate or damaged items.
Drop-off Location: 325 Villa Terrace, San Mateo, CA 94401
Drop-off Times: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m – 12 p.m.
For First Step for Families-related donation questions, please contact 650-340-8814.
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