Serna Village: A Community for Families on the Journey from Homelessness to Self-Sufficiency

On a former Air Force Base in the suburbs of Sacramento, California is a small, brightly painted, well-kept apartment complex.

The first thing that might get a first time visitor's attention at Serna Village on a summer or a Saturday afternoon is the children. Lots of children. From babies in strollers on their way to check the mail with mom to high schoolers talking on cell phones or chatting with friends at the picnic tables, over two hundred young people call Serna Village home.

Something else that might initiate a conversation is the gardens. Serna boasts two mostly edible gardens, and a variety of in- and above ground trees along the property, cared for by its Garden Co-op, and assorted volunteers among the community. At potluck community meals, it isn't unusual to see a salad tossed with flowers from across the lawn. Community meals happen monthly at Serna. Community is where it all begins.

Serna Village was named for the late Joe Serna, former mayor of Sacramento. It is part of a non-profit organization called Cottage Housing Inc. and was created to help formerly homeless families on their journey to self-sufficiency. In order to qualify for a place at Serna, a parent must have a "certifiable disability"-a history of domestic violence, drug or alcohol abuse, physical disability, or mental health diagnosis-have been homeless, and have children. Applicants must be clean and sober for at least six months to move in, but many will not reunite with their children, who may have been in foster care or elsewhere, until they are settled in their new home. Rent is determined on an individual, unit to unit basis, by the property management company, based on income and other factors. Families cannot live permanently at Serna, but their stay is not limited to a specific time frame, as long as they are utilizing the program and actively working toward greater self-sufficiency. For some families that might mean a year, for some the stay might be considerably longer.

While residents-called Participants-may need to claim a disability to get in, they will find out as soon as they arrive that it isn't a term or a concept that Cottage Housing cares to dwell on. Serna Village, and their housing program for single adults, Quinn Cottages, located in downtown Sacramento, are both based on a "resiliency model," that is, the idea that everyone has the strength and the potential within them to recover and bounce back from hardship. Rather than tailor a program around Participants' perceived weaknesses, Cottage Housing created programs that are strength-based, encouraging each individual to use the available resources toward whatever goals he or she personally wants to attain. Support staff-called Personal Development Coaches-work in partnership with Participants, rather than as authorities, or the "case managers" they are often accustomed to from more structured programs. Participants are issued "passports" every month, a booklet that is part day planner, part calendar, and includes pages where their participation in groups, attendance at meetings, community service hours, and even personal affirmations can be noted. There is also a section to track personal wellness activities, often the most difficult for Participants to commit to at first.

Activities on the calendar for Serna Village change quarterly, but in a typical month you'll find weekly offerings such as Acupuncture, Yoga, Meditation, Spirituality, Parenting, Childcare Co-op, Writing, Nutritious Cooking, even Needlepoint and BINGO, as well as AA and NA meetings at which the public is welcome. You'll also see time allotted for Residents Council and Officers Meetings (the community nominates and elects its own governing council to six-month terms, and maintains its own bylaws), and Community Meetings.

For young people, the Skylab program maintains its own calendars for different age groups. There is a mentoring program, leadership training, bicycle club, and after school homework club. New this year are Project Wild-a group of youth responsible for keeping a section of the American River park environment clean, complete with their own sign-and the Young Entrepreneur's Club, who will brainstorm and help implement fundraising and service projects among the Serna youth.

Serna Village was envisioned as a community of opportunity, a place where families can plot their own personal journey to independence: less restrictive than the programs from which they arrive, but with a little extra support in getting to the next stage. Many of the goals they set when they arrive can be complicated-reuniting with children who have been in foster care, getting their first legitimate job, GED, or high school diploma, or having felonies expunged from their record. Many of their accomplishments will be simple, but no less life-changing-opening their first savings account, purchasing their first new bed, posing for their first family portrait.

On the inside cover of every Serna passport, the first page poses the following:

I am here on Earth in order to________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

I am here at Serna Village in order to _________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________.

Participants at Serna Village address those questions at the beginning of each new month. If members of every community followed suit, perhaps more of them would be healing communities-and a couple of complimentary yoga and acupuncture workshops in every neighborhood wouldn't hurt!