Family Program Manager Jose Gonzalez: A Real Partner with Families in Transition
Jose Gonzalez is a Family Program Manager with Simpson Housing Services, a Bridging agency partner. Simpson offers an array of programs including a shelter program, supportive housing for youth, adults, and families, and children and youth mentoring programs.
Jose is deeply committed to Simpson’s mission to house, support, and advocate for people experiencing homelessness. Working with Simpson for nearly eight years, he started as a volunteer at Simpson’s shelter and later worked as a shelter advocate, providing a safe space, walking alongside guests with dignity, listening, and offering community resources.
For the past four years, Jose served as a case manager in Simpson’s Family Housing Program, which provides subsidized rental support and case management to families over a two-year period. Jose met with families experiencing homelessness and helped them secure safe and stable housing. Once families were housed, he provided weekly support to help them reach their unique goals.
Recently, with his promotion to Family Program Manager, Jose works directly with a small number of families and supports a team of five colleagues who assist families participating in Simpson Housing’s time-limited family housing programs. As a bilingual caseworker, Jose offers translation support and best practices to help ensure agencies are providing services that are welcoming and navigated with ease.
“We focus on the key elements that will help each family get into housing and arrive at a stable point,” he says. We connect to mental health resources, assist with getting their kids in school, apply for disability or employment, and set up their home.”
When it is time for a family to furnish their home, Jose and Simpson colleagues refer participants to Bridging. Jose observes the positive and significant impact that a full-household setup of furniture and essential household goods has for a family.
“There is a certain type of joy that happens, when a family has their name on a lease, a place that’s their own. When you have a bed, blankets, a table, pots and pans. They feel like they are at home. It gives comfort. I see an amazing agency that’s providing the human aspect of having a furnished place. Families appreciate it.”
A vital component of Simpson’s work is advancing racial equity through a commitment to antiracist work and intentional efforts to end systemic inequities. Jose incorporates a racial equity lens in his daily work.
“When you are constantly challenging yourself to see the reality of what the community deals with, you really become a partner. You’re not coming from a different level, you’re understanding what families are dealing with, about inequity in housing.
As families near their exit to Simpson’s Transitions Program, Jose and the team help families expand their housing options by connecting them to fair market housing and other affordable housing lists. By having a home of their own and a safe space to work on other goals, families are ready to advance to the next step in their life with stability and hope
“Bridging is providing a home for people, a place where you can share a story with your family around the kitchen table,” he says. “You can have beautiful things, and have a place you can call home.”
A longtime Bridging agency partner, Simpson Housing Services referred 79 households to Bridging last year.