Sketching Her Own Story of Success

The Sketch Salazar Story

In 2014, Sketch became homeless for the first time in her life, after a car crash left her with a brain injury and intensified her struggle with addiction. HomeFirst’s Outreach Team and our Low Barrier approach to service provision, however, gave Sketch the chance to regain housing and attain sobriety. 

Sketch first learned about HomeFirst from the Outreach Team that would visit her friend’s camp and bring water, snacks, and other needed resources, including hygeine kits and inclement weather supplies that were provided by our donors. It was during one of these routine visits in 2015, that Sketch was offered a business card from a HomeFirst outreach worker. Sketch reluctantly took the card, as she felt that she didn’t need help, but one year later, she called the number to ask for assistance. 

Sketch’s call led to an office visit, where she was welcomed warmly by the Outreach Team and encouraged to do an intake evaluation that would assess her needs and begin her journey to permanent housing. Following this, Sketch was placed on the waitlist for the Boccardo Reception Center (BRC), HomeFirst’s shelter in San Jose, where she then received medical and mental health services. 

While receiving services at the BRC, Sketch worked with her Case Manager from the Office of Supportive Housing (OSH) to obtain permanent housing, and after four months, she secured a housing voucher and an apartment at Curtner Studios. Sketch and her case manager agreed that if she signed a one year housing contract, she could build a positive rental history that would allow her to have more choice in her housing search moving forward. Sketch had no rental history, poor credit, a criminal background, and no letters of recommendation, but signing this lease was a way for her to overcome that. 

The transition to permanent housing was a challenge for Sketch, but time and mental health services helped her adjust to this new way of life. Sleeping in a bedroom at Curtner Studios felt strange and exposing after having spent so much time living in a small tent. With the support of her Case Manager and the Outreach Team, which she maintained contact with, however, this new life began to feel normal. 

Sketch has been able to overcome the difficulty of the transition from unhoused to housed, and her life has flourished. She is now five years sober and lives in a home that she only used to dream of. Sketch’s street is quiet and full of trees, her current duplex is cozy, and she now has two dogs, Etch and Doodle. While Sketch has already accomplished so much, she has many goals for the future. Sketch is an advocate for those who are unhoused and dreams of one day starting a nonprofit.