“I was sitting in my friend’s tent and had two big bags of clothes. No car, no money, wondering if this was going to be my life forever. Scared.” That is how my friend Rocky described what was going through his mind when he became homeless at the age of twenty-nine. Rocky’s journey to becoming housed took many turns, but ultimately it came down to the relationships he built at a weekly “neighborhood navigation center,” a Thursday night gathering of various nonprofits, case management services, and churches in Alameda Park, Santa Barbara. Reflecting on that time, he told me, “I remember being in shock because I was wondering ‘Who are all these people who are helping me? … They were sitting down talking with me, treating us like normal people.”
I also found myself in that same park on a Thursday night at the start of my freshman year at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. By then, Rocky had already been housed for a couple of years, but he continued to come to the park every week to support the homeless community. To this day, Rocky remains a consistent mentor and friend to me.
I share Rocky’s story because it illustrates an important principle: homelessness cannot be solved by the isolated actions of a single institution of society. Just like those weekly nights at the park — where people and groups from all parts of society came together to provide for the physical, material, emotional, and relational needs of those experiencing homelessness — the issue is best addressed through the combined efforts of all institutions of society — namely, government, nonprofits, and faith communities.
The state of homelessness in the United States today is dire. In 2024, a Point-in-Time count, which measures the total number of people sleeping in places not meant for human habitation in the U.S. on a single night in January, recorded 771,480 people experiencing homelessness.
In Santa Barbara specifically, skyrocketing housing prices have made homelessness a reality for people from many different backgrounds. Currently, 987 individuals in the city are experiencing homelessness. With a population of 86,499, that represents a rate of homelessness of 1.2 percent — about 120 people per 10,000 residents — compared to the national rate of around 0.2 percent. This number significantly outpaces the services and resources available. As a result, many are forced into dangerous situations, such as sleeping outside. As another one of my friends currently experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara put it, “Being homeless in Santa Barbara is ruthless. There’s a lot to be scared of.”
A comprehensive approach to homelessness requires multi-faceted solutions. At the national and local level, government often takes the lead by providing affordable housing and offering housing assistance or vouchers to help individuals with the burden of housing costs, which are managed locally by Housing Authorities at the city and town levels. Nonprofit organizations, with their local ties and community relationships, are often well-equipped to provide services directly to those experiencing homelessness.
The efforts of churches in addressing homelessness are equally pivotal, though often publicly under-recognized because their aid frequently takes informal forms. However, 87 percent of religious congregations in the U.S., across faith groups, provide social services to people outside their immediate congregation. Congregations “are major partners in the HUD CoC program and serve as homeless service providers in every major city.” Most commonly, congregations provide food, while fewer offer shelters, transitional housing, or affordable housing.
Alongside Katherine Bryant, PhD, I spent the past semester researching and interviewing those involved in addressing homelessness in Santa Barbara, with particular attention to how churches are currently involved in these existing tiers around homelessness. From this, developed recommendations for how churches can be more intentionally included in solutions.
Our findings can be summed up in these four recommendations:
(1) Churches should be involved at the beginning of the planning process by being included in strategic planning conversations.
(2) Churches should be plugged into the day-to-day work of government and nonprofit hubs for housing and homelessness services.
(3) Churches should collaborate inter-congregationally to further advocacy work and help prevent homelessness by caring for their members who are struggling financially.
(4) Churches need to be intentional in equipping congregational members to engage in this work, as well as developing their commitment to reaching out to the community.
Santa Barbara’s collaborative approach to homelessness already emphasizes strategic planning, with one- to three-year plans that include achievable goals. The collaborators on these plans currently involve city and county government agencies, nonprofits, business leaders, philanthropic foundations, and individuals who have experienced homelessness. Yet local churches are largely absent from the table. Including churches will require commitment from both churches and other organizations already present in strategic planning, but it will also ensure that city goals around homelessness make space for the unique role faith communities play.
It is equally important to connect churches compassionately caring for those experiencing homelessness through food and the city’s wider work on homelessness, instead of having these actions disjointed from each other. One way to do this is to connect churches to existing hubs for housing services — which include city-run NNCs and nonprofits like Father Virgil’s or the Mental Wellness Center. Churches can support these hubs not only through food provision but also through relational support as they offer fellowship to those who visit these centers.
Additionally, churches can practice collaboration within their own sector by partnering with other churches. One example of this in Santa Barbara is CLUE SB, which stands for Clergy and Laity United for Economic and Social Justice in Santa Barbara. CLUE SB is a partnership across faith denominations that addresses social issues like homelessness through political advocacy, lobbying, and educating people of faith on these issues. Churches can also partner with other churches in the area that may have more need in their congregation to be more effective in supporting members who have lower incomes and may be at risk of homelessness.
Finally, churches themselves must commit to pursuing justice within their communities. Laura Stivers, in her book Disrupting Homelessness: Alternative Christian Approaches, asserts that justice work should not be “relegated to a committee, but incorporated into the whole mission and life of the church.” Churches can start programs, but cannot neglect one of their most valuable resources: their congregations. By equipping members of church congregations to hone their own skills and find places where there is a deep need, we will see the church start to make measurable change in their communities, here in Santa Barbara and elsewhere.
Kate Robinson, born and raised in Beverly, MA, attends Westmont College, where she is a junior studying Political Science and minoring in Spanish and Religious Studies. To read the full research behind this op-ed, visit Katherine Bryant and Robinson’s 2025 Hatfield Prize page here.
