Social Networks

When you think of social networks what comes to mind? For the average person, specific clubs, group, organizations and friends are immediate things that come to mind. What about within th homeless community? Social networks takes on a completely different face when you are homeless. For the homeless population in Orange County, social networks are scarce. There are several programs, full of dedicated and hard working volunteers in Orange County that are working to change this. CHAT-H, Project Hope, and Isaiah House are three programs that seem to be making a tangible difference within differnt cities in Orange County.
These programs have done something that many have failed to do and that is to make resources accessible and improve the ability of the homeless to expand their own sphere of networks. How have they done this? They have brought social services, mental health services, and wrap around services together in one place to assist the homeless. These programs have formed a solid collaboration within the community and have worked to increase their accessibility and exposure to the homeless.

Attending college opened up a world for me that I would not have otherwise been exposed to. I was able to meet new people, foster relationships, join professional organizations and learn about financial resources and assistance for school. My "reach" and ability to obtain resources greatly improved due to my exposure to differnt social networks. In essence, this is what CHAT-H, Isaiah House and Project Hope have done for the homeless. Through collaboration and gathering of services, these programs have effectively expanded the "reach" of the homeless and are dogmatically tackling this issue in Orange County.