Victoria Asfour, an outreach case manager for LifeMoves, walks with her manager, Marc Sabin, along the Caltrain tracks in downtown San Mateo. Asfour is part of a team of outreach case managers who each work with 17 to 20 homeless individuals toward a goal of living in long-term housing. The 31-year-old San Mateo resident said her daily schedule shifts significantly depending on the clients she’s working with, noting trips to the DMV or to a government agency to access benefits can be challenging for them.
Whether it’s accompanying police officers to a rapid response call or waiting at the DMV to help someone get an ID card, it seems as though no two days in Victoria Asfour’s work as an outreach case manager for LifeMoves are alike.
Based at the Vendome at 415 Second Ave. in downtown San Mateo, Asfour begins her days early, visiting spots in San Mateo and Burlingame where she knows many homeless people spend the night and checking in with them to see how they are doing. But sometimes her days start with meeting them at appointments with a government housing agency or the Social Security office, other times connecting them with medical professionals so they can receive health care.
Though it may seem like an overwhelming schedule for some, the 31-year-old San Mateo resident keeps her focus on the goal she and her fellow LifeMoves case managers set with nearly 100 homeless individuals throughout the county — to return them to long-term housing.
“Every day can be like busy, busy, busy or just busy,” she said. “It’s never the same … even when you have a schedule, it changes.”
With many clients experiencing mental health crises, alcohol or drug addictions or a combination of challenges, the path toward securing housing is different depending on the individuals Asfour works with and the trauma they’ve experienced. Asfour works with some 17 to 20 people at a time, and noted that for many of her clients, even waiting at the DMV for two hours to get an ID card can be a big undertaking.
Asfour said she works with hospitals, police officers and other community-based organizations to keep her clients on the path toward housing, but noted she also works closely with other LifeMoves staff who help connect homeless individuals with Social Security and other benefits for which they might have known they were eligible.
“It’s really stabilizing them and helping them to get to where they want … that is ultimately housing, but throughout the process, it’s a lot,” she said. “It’s ups and downs and all arounds and there’s not one plan.”
She said it can take some 15 interactions with the same person before someone really wants to talk to her, so she’s prepared to be persistent in her approach and showing those she sees daily that she wants to meet them where they are. She said simply smiling can help develop relationships, and always being consistent, approachable and equipped with a kit or a pair of socks is also something she strives for when she is doing outreach.
“Sometimes they’re not receptive, and then maybe the 100th time they are receptive and that’s OK,” she said. “That’s the process.”
Asfour said she met many homeless people while working at Trag’s Market at 303 Baldwin Ave. for some 13 years before she started her work at LifeMoves more than a year ago. She said she keeps in mind that many of the people she works with don’t have anyone or anything else to fall back on, which can really hinder their ability to move forward with their lives.
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Knowing how many steps it can take for a client to become housed, Asfour said seeing them with keys in their hands and in their own home is nothing short of rewarding.
“Even when we’re getting them housed, sometimes they step back a little bit and that’s where I come in and remind them ‘you’ve accomplished all this,’” she said.
Asfour’s manager Marc Sabin said LifeMoves case managers see many homeless people who had jobs and homes in the recent past but have been forced into homelessness as the cost of living has risen in the last few years. As senior director for regional outreach initiatives at LifeMoves, Sabin has seen those with domestic violence issues or mental health conditions struggle to overcome them with the additional trauma of living in the streets.
Sabin said the jobs Asfour and other LifeMoves case managers do are incredibly difficult, requiring them to change course several times a day and be out on the streets daily. But he pointed to their persistence in working to house the homeless as a key to the nonprofit’s success.
“Without that tenacity, the change wouldn’t happen for people,” he said.
As a Bay Area native, Asfour said she’s grateful for the opportunity to be a part of her community through her work at LifeMoves. She said every time she visits clients or those she hopes to work with, she recognizes she is in their environment and is appreciative of the times she is welcomed into their space. For her, being a part of just a little bit of hope in someone’s life is what makes a challenging job worth it.
“I think just housing somebody and being able to watch them sign and watch them get the keys … giving them that little hope and just being like, ‘wait a minute, I’m important,’ … you can’t forget about that,” she said.
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(1) comment
Great attitude..Thank you for giving the help that is so badly needed...Keep up the good work. You make us all proud.
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