Contra Costa Continuum of Care offers success story for homeless single mother from Richmond, Antioch
By Contra Costa Continuum of Care
Janika spent most of her childhood living with her family in Richmond and Antioch. At 18, she says, “I moved out of my mom’s house and got my own apartment”. She was successfully housed for years until her father’s illness in 2024 triggered debilitating grief and mental health challenges. “I started realizing I wasn’t myself. I was going through a depressed mode and also a manic mode”, she explained. While in Chicago managing her father’s affairs, she remembers, “I wasn’t communicating. I wasn’t answering my phone. I was just falling off of my responsibilities.”
She returned six weeks later to an eviction notice on her door. “I ended up getting kicked out. I didn’t really think I would get kicked out,” she reflects.
She was homeless with her two small children for almost a year until one day in May 2025, when, she says, “I was in a hotel room and thought I was pregnant. In my mind I thought, ‘I cannot be living like this.” She continued, “Something in my mind clicked. I started reaching out to resources and trying to get myself back together.”
She reached out to her CalWORKs case manager who connected her to a special CORE mobile outreach team for CalWORKs families. She explained that with her income, “rent had to be $1,000 or less. It’s hard to find a place that low.” A CORE team member she worked with agrees, saying, “people can’t sustain rent just on the income they get from CalWORKs. Government assistance is not enough for people to survive on.”
Janika was fortunate to find a furnished housing opportunity on her own, within walking distance of her son’s school. Afraid the opportunity might pass before Janika could be connected to a Rapid Rehousing program, her CORE case manager researched something that might provide rental support more quickly. She was not eligible for some programs because she didn’t have a high enough income and another program had restrictions that conflicted with the particular housing situation she had identified. They were thrilled to learn that Janika qualified for rental support through through Behavioral Health Bridge Housing. Janika explained, “My rent is $950, they pay $650 and I pay $300. I get this help for a year.”
Today, Janika and her three children are safely housed in East County, close to schools and services.
“My son has his own room. That was important to me,” she shared.
Janika has continued attending mental health appointments, staying connected to her children’s services, and has begun planning for childcare and her own education.
“I talked to my worker today about going back to school. I want to do public health or become a social worker. I want to help people in my situation.’
When asked about her future, she says, “I see myself with a good stable job.”
She hopes others, especially single mothers, hear her message: “I want other single mothers who feel like they don’t have nobody to know there’s always somebody. Don’t give up.”
For more information visit Contra Costa Continuum of Care | Contra Costa Health.
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