People Assisting The Homeless

Our mission is to end homelessness for individuals, families, and communities. PATH envisions a world where every person has a home. Our values include creative collaborations, strategic leadership, empowerment for all, and passionate commitment.

PATH was founded in 1983 in a grassroots effort to end homelessness on Los Angeles’ Westside. Community volunteers raised money from garage sales and bake sales to provide their unsheltered neighbors with meals and clothes. Decades later, PATH transitioned from a traditional shelter and food kitchen model to develop more effective and innovative initiatives to end homelessness: launched the PATH Mall in 2002, a one-stop shop where clients could access resources for all their needs; completed four mergers with other providers; created a real estate development arm in 2007; scaled to four other regions in California; and launched a social enterprise in 2021.

Our agency first began operating in Orange County during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we worked tirelessly to ensure the health and safety of residents and staff while continuing to provide critical services. In January 2021, we opened the Yale Navigation Center, offering 425 interim beds to our unhoused neighbors in Santa Ana. Over the past few years, we have tirelessly continued to expand the scope and breadth of our services, via the implementation of Emergency Housing Voucher, Rapid Re-Housing, and Outreach programming, as well as collaborations with the County, City of Costa Mesa, OC Parks, and CalOptima Health.

PATH aims to provide our unhoused neighbors with the tools and resources necessary to break the cycle of homelessness. Using a person-centered Housing First approach, our organization prioritizes placing people in interim and permanent supportive housing, then focuses on increasing stability by providing voluntary supportive services, including targeted case management, housing navigation and landlord engagement, workforce development, medical and mental health linkages, and more.

PATH Orange County serves over 2,000 individuals each year, with roughly 900 permanently housed since 2021. Statewide, across our five regions, PATH serves more than 24,000 annually, and has helped more than 24,000 move into their own homes since 2013.

In addition, through our real estate branch, PATH Ventures, over 2,900 affordable homes have been completed or are currently in development.

We are always in need of volunteers, in-kind donations and corporate/individual donorship:
• Host a meal service or support our kitchen team
• Support or host an activity or game night for our guests
• Host a donation drive for commonly needed items, including toiletries, cold weather items, and blankets
• Assemble and hygiene kits, care kits or Welcome Home baskets
• Help more people make it home by becoming a donor

Donor funds will go to support PATH programs, including assisting with staffing costs and providing flex funds for client needs.
For more information about volunteer or donation opportunities please email PATHOC@epath.org

PATH provides a wide array of supportive services to the unhoused communities of Orange, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Clara Counties.