Did you know that Encompass Community Services has a Downtown Outreach program? This mission-driven team works to develop trust and respectful relationships with adults experiencing homelessness, substance use disorder, and/or mental illness in the Santa Cruz downtown corridor to help link individuals with crisis support and other services that improve their quality of life.
Treating every individual with dignity and respect is at the heart of what we do at Encompass. The Downtown Outreach team brings this mantra to life by connecting individuals with appropriate supportive services that reduce the risk of psychiatric hospitalizations and incarceration, and address a variety of housing, health care, substance use disorder, and mental health-related needs – all while honoring each person’s right of choice. Read on to learn more about this incredible team and how you can help those who need support connect with our services.
In addition to serving clients, our team provides education to and works in close partnership with downtown merchants and the business community, law enforcement, the County Homeless Outreach Proactive Engagement & Services (HOPES) team, Smart Path, the VA, City officials, and local health clinics to support a healthier, more equitable community. This small but mighty team of two – Meredith Flores and Aasha Abbot (staff spotlights below!) – also took part in our county’s recent Point-in-Time (PIT) Count to help quantify our community's unsheltered population.
Mark Conley, a local journalist from Lookout Santa Cruz, rode along with them and reported on his experience in this in-depth piece: Here’s what putting a number on homelessness looked like, from Santa Cruz to Watsonville & beyond. We encourage you to give the piece a read (and thanks to Meredith, Aasha and Will Norteye for participating in the count!)
Meredith Flores
Downtown Outreach Manager | Health & Housing Service Area
Born and raised in Watsonville, Meredith spent the first part of her career working in a residential treatment facility in Monterey where she attended college. While she loved her line of work, she wanted a change of pace from the office environment where she could build genuine connections with members of the Santa Cruz County community where she has lived her whole life.
In April 2019, Meredith saw a job opening on our Downtown Outreach team and immediately recognized the need for the role – as someone who grew up visiting downtown Santa Cruz and saw the growing number of people experiencing homelessness first-hand, she could sympathize with both the individuals and the businesses that were impacted and wanted to help. Meredith joined the program and has been an invaluable member of Encompass team ever since.
Meredith and her team work hand-in-hand with partners across the county to support clients’ whole-person health. As Meredith puts it, “Physical and mental health are all connected. Those who are unhoused or facing mental health challenges are often medically vulnerable, so getting them to trust us and feel comfortable accessing community resources is a big part of our job.
Meredith is especially grateful for our partners at the Homeless Persons Health Project (HPHP) health clinic for providing accessible, judgment-free and client-focused medical care that shares our commitment to treating people with dignity and respect.
Meredith is also pursuing her Master of Social Work through San Jose State University. When she isn’t working or studying, she enjoys spending time with her Labrador, Benny, and loves camping.
Aasha Abbott
Downtown Outreach Worker | Health & Housing Service Area
Aasha first came to Encompass during her senior year in college as an on-call mental health counselor and has since pursued a career path supporting unhoused individuals facing mental health challenges. She rejoined the Encompass team fulltime in October 2021 as a Downtown Outreach Worker while also focusing on completing her Master of Social Work from San Jose State University.
While the Downtown Outreach team’s main role is to refer people to community resources, it’s only one step in the team’s wraparound approach to care. For Aasha, the role is all about building trust and mutual respect, and helping each individual make their own choices on the path to better health. Thanks to her background in housing navigation, Aasha’s niche lies in connecting people with housing – an incredible asset for clients in our community where affordable housing is especially scarce. Thanks to her relationships with local landlords, Aasha has helped many clients secure long-term housing.
A typical day for Aasha is anything but - one day she's making referrals to warming enters and helping clients access medical assistance, and the next she is distributing bus passes and helping clients secure documents like income verification, personal ID, reference letters and more to access housing.
The flexibility and variety are two of the many things that attracted Aasha to the work. Simply put, she loves the freedom to excel in the work without being micromanaged. She also loves that she can bring her one-year-old Labradoodle, Lolly, to work with her (who also happens to be a total champ at helping clients feel at ease).
In addition to spending time with her pup, Aasha enjoys time hiking and biking outdoors and taking naps when her hectic schedule allows.
Thanks to both Meredith and Aasha for their work supporting our community!The flexibility and variety are two of the many things that attracted Aasha to the work. Simply put, she loves the freedom to excel in the work without being micromanaged. She also loves that she can bring her one-year-old Labradoodle, Lolly, to work with her (who also happens to be a total champ at helping clients feel at ease).
In addition to spending time with her pup, Aasha enjoys time hiking and biking outdoors and taking naps when her hectic schedule allows.
Thanks to both Meredith and Aasha for their work supporting our community!