To support unemployed and homeless individuals to be successful in their job search, we secure job preparedness items on a large scale, in a coordinated effort and distribute these necessities at no cost to job counselors at agencies serving the San Francisco homeless community.

The idea for our agency was the outgrowth of a 1995 five-year community plan called the Continuum of Care Plan, which addressed possible services and solutions to homelessness in San Francisco. During the process of developing this plan, job counselors from homeless agencies repeatedly stated that a main barrier to employment for their clients was the lack of accessibility to personal hygiene items. Working Essentials was established in 1996 to address this community need.

Working Essentials is the only organization that actually solicits, picks-up and delivers "essential items" on behalf of the agencies served, absolutely free of charge, saving these agencies both time and money. Over the past five years, Working Essentials has distributed over $465,000 worth of material support to agencies serving homeless men, women and families in San Francisco reaching over 10,000 individuals.

Thank you for visiting our website.

We hope through our site you acquire a clear understanding of the services we provide to people who are homeless and trying to stabilize their lives in San Francisco. This program was born out of a community need and we are glad to be able fulfill it. We are proud to be part of Working Essentials and greatly appreciate all the contributions the program has received from our supporters. It is because of our supporters that we can assist individuals in better preparing for job interviews.

Working Essentials has grown from a volunteer-based program working out of the founder’s garage, to having a part-time Program Director working in a tiny office space. See the photo below. Our expenses for rent and storage space are only $337.50 a month! No money wasted on fancy office space! You can be assured that your contribution to our program will be used to expand community outreach and/or to purchase everyday essentials needed by the clients at the agencies we serve.

All of us at Working Essentials realize that there are two major ways to reduce homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area. One is to increase the amount of low income housing units for local residents. The other is to create the ability for people who work here to earn a living wage, allowing them to afford the rents. While we support big picture solutions, our focus is to offer immediate assistance by providing "essentials" to people who are striving towards employment and who need basic support to reach their goal. We hope you will join in on our efforts.

On behalf of the agencies and their clients served.... Thank you for your interest in our program.

Sincerely,

Laila Villaume
Program Director

Advisory Board Members:
Geraldine Abello Williams
Patricia Dugan
Kate Durham
Justin Probert
Sandy Weil, Founder