The dream, said Nathaly Santana, a former foster youth, was building a life for her family in a home she called her own.
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In the year since she moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Ana, Santana has enrolled in Cal State Long Beach to pursue a career in teaching and adopted her 3-year-old sister, Vanessa, who she calls her daughter.
Santana said her two other sisters, who are 17 and 20, come over often now that she has a home to host visits.
“Having a safe, consistent home has given us a sense of security and allowed us to establish routines and focus on our future,” said Santana, 22. “I’m able to give my daughter the childhood I always dreamed of having.”
Santana is among 200 former foster youths who have found housing through Orange County United Way’s housing assistance program, Welcome Home OC, since it launched in 2019. The organization recently announced the milestone it reached.
The program provides move-in support to young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 who hold federal housing vouchers under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Foster Youth to Independence initiative.
Foster Youth to Independence has awarded 25 vouchers annually to the Santa Ana Housing Authority, one of which went to Santana. Welcome Home OC, working in tandem with the Orangewood Foundation, found the housing for Santana and helped her cover move-in costs, including a $2,345 security deposit and basic furnishings such as a dining table, chairs and kitchen utensils.
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More than 15,000 youths age out of the child welfare system every year, including 117 in Orange County last year, according to the OC Social Services Agency. With the state experiencing a shortage of families and group homes that are equipped or willing to house foster youths, many move into emergency shelters or end up sleeping in their cars or on the streets, experts say.
“Nationally, we know foster youths are much more likely to fold into homelessness than other young adults,” said Becks Heyhoe, the director of United to End Homelessness. “Helping connect them to housing resources is a really important way to offer homeless prevention services in our communities.”
Welcome Home OC is currently working with 17 young adults to find housing, she said. The average wait time for an apartment is just under three months.
In July, HUD on the number of Youth to Independence vouchers that public housing agencies can request each year. The limit was previously set at 50. The ruling will make it easier for housing groups and advocates to access more vouchers in the community and open up housing opportunities for more former foster youths, Heyhoe said.
“We’re actively looking to see how many young adults who are eligible for those vouchers can apply,” she said. “We’re excited to rally together to create resources to make sure every former foster youth who is in need can get a home of their own to chase their dream.”
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