The population primarily being served by Hogares, homeless Latino families and single women, present barriers to housing that are different in both type and scope than in more traditional homeless service programs.  The barriers identified are as follows: 

• Language barrier/English as a second language – This impacts ability to gain education, training and living wage employment.
• Lack of culturally competent, available and affordable child care – Although affordable child care does exist in the community, there are not enough slots available for LTHP participants.  Consequently, this impacts the participant’s ability to be employed, participate in program-related activities and job training.
• Immigration status – This impacts the participant’s ability to receive any benefits, including food stamps and other short-term governmental assistance.  Other effects include a limited ability for participants to gain living wage employment that often leads to receiving substandard wages without benefits such as health care.  In addition, obtaining housing becomes difficult, since it is often challenging to prove income without proper documentation.
• Mental Health Issues – For this population, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression are major factors in their mental health, especially for participants coming from war-torn areas and who may have left family behind to come to the United States.
• Life Skills/Cultural Issues – This category encompasses many things outside of the usual budgeting/daily living issues addressed by most transitional housing organizations.  In general, it concerns making the adjustment from living in the participant’s country of origin to living in the United States, as things that may be expected or acceptable in one culture may not be in another.
• Revitalization/Gentrification – Exorbitant housing redevelopment in predominantly Latino neighborhoods has led to residents no longer being able to afford the increasing rents.  This has led to eviction as well as overcrowding, and/or subsequent substandard living arrangements in the remaining affordable units. 
• Substandard Wages/Over employment – Approximately 80% of program participants are employed at program entry, but because of many of the issues outlined above, one job cannot meet the living expenses of the participant.  Also, participants often have commitments to family members in their home country to send money home.  This places an additional burden on the participant that results in over employment, minimal time to spend with children, as well as a diminished opportunity in receiving life skills, case management and other types of assistance which may be necessary to increase job skills or education.

Given these barriers to permanent housing, and given that many families and individuals ask for assistance only when their informal support systems are not adequate enough to meet their needs, Hogares’ programs must have high-level engagement and understanding of the needs as its core value in serving homeless Latino families and single women.  During recent years we have served an increasing number of immigrant families from Africa.