Mountain View nonprofit celebrates five years of helping people find housing

On a recent Saturday morning, a group of volunteers set up portable tables, chairs and filing cabinets in the parking lot of Trinity United Methodist Church, taking up a small corridor of space partitioned off by orange cones and caution tape.

Francisco Saucedo, a longtime volunteer, sat behind one of the tables and motioned for an older man to join him. Saucedo spent the next 20 minutes on the phone with a towing company, translating in Spanish for the man who was desperate to get his vehicle back.

“I help with whatever help is needed,” Saucedo said, a philosophy that sums up The United Effort Organization, a local nonprofit that provides a wide range of services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Santa Clara County.

Earlier this month, UEO celebrated its five-year anniversary, a major milestone for the nonprofit that got its start at the height of the pandemic.

“We step in when other people step out,” said Wei Qun E, a retired attorney and UEO co-founder and chief executive officer.

UEO launched in 2020 after Wei Qun E and Claire Hubel met at Hope’s Corner, a local nonprofit that provides hot meals, warm showers and other services for people in need.

As Wei Qun E and Hubel volunteered cleaning the showers at Hope’s Corner, they got to know a lot of the clients who would tell them about their problems. When the pandemic hit, the showers shut down but the conversations continued.

“We just moved our little informal problem-solving table into the parking lot,” Hubel said. “When the showers finally reopened, we never went back in.”

Since then, the nonprofit has helped over 2,000 people with public benefit applications, housing searches, employment support and other services, according to a UEO press release.

Typically, UEO volunteers check in with people as they wait for food at Hope’s Corner on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The frequency and flexibility of the check-ins, either as “light touch management” or more in-depth conversations, has been extremely beneficial, Hubel said. It’s less daunting for clients and helps them get more regular help when they need it, she said.

A big part of the nonprofit’s focus is getting community members housed. More than 150 people have moved into affordable housing with the assistance of UEO case managers who work in partnership with other nonprofits and local agencies, the UEO press release said.

Wei Qun E attributed a lot of the organization’s success to the persistence of the volunteers and deep knowledge of how bureaucratic systems work. “We don’t give up. We’re stubborn people,” she said.

The hard work has paid off, according to Mikey, a 53-year-old client. “I’m a wreck but they keep helping me,” Mikey joked. In December, Mikey moved into an apartment after being unhoused for years. He got into the apartment with the help of UEO, he said.

A major innovation of UEO has been its affordable housing database, a free online tool that is accessible to the public. The database is updated daily, making it a valuable resource for case managers and anyone else searching for homes in real time. Nothing existed like it before, Hubel said.

UEO also administers a “vulnerability index” tool, referred to as VI-SPDAT, that is used to assess the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. It helps local agencies prioritize who gets access to housing and support services, including rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing.

“That’s one of our most important tools to help people become housed,” Hubel said.

Hubel described UEO as a kind of “navigator” for people, helping them get through complex bureaucratic processes and smoothing the transition to stabilized housing.

In addition to housing, UEO helps people with other needs like medical care and employment support. Bus passes, which UEO provides for free, are especially popular with clients who use them to get to work and access other services, Hubel said.

For Marcus, a 76-year-old veteran, the resources provided by UEO have been invaluable. Marcus first started showing up at the parking lot in 2021 to pick up charged cell phone batteries, a service provided by UEO during the pandemic when a lot of community centers were closed.

Marcus connected with a UEO case manager who then helped him apply for affordable housing and medical benefits, tapping into his eligibility for certain programs as a veteran. “I got put to the top of the list,” Marcus said. He now lives in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in Sunnyvale. “I feel like I’m rich,” Marcus said.

This story originally appeared in the Mountain View Voice. Emily Margaretten joined the Mountain View Voice in 2023 as a reporter covering City Hall.