Spring/Summer 2026

With your support, we’re drawing plans for 28 apartments for seniors in response to a community call to guard older adults from homelessness. We celebrated the 25th year of Fresh Starts Culinary Academy and the extended opportunities for learning through employment at our main campus.

Dear Friends of Homeward Bound,

One of the great honors of working at Homeward Bound of Marin is seeing first-hand the transformations that our work facilitates.  We witness lives being rebuilt by people whose health and mindset change as they find their way home and reclaim their futures. We are pleased to share these journeys in this newsletter, so that you can experience them too.

With community partnership, we also have realized ambitious transformation at our main campus.  Starting in 2023, we cleared derelict warehouses to make way for places where people leave homelessness behind as they physically unlock the doors to new dreams. Homes for veterans, families and adults working in our community stand beside a state-of-the art training and event center that supports career growth. We are excited to launch the Community Teaching Kitchen in this new space and invite you to join us for a hands-on cooking class!

Now we want to share the start of a new journey for Homeward Bound of Marin.  We recently announced our plan to transform the former convent at 77 Locust Avenue in San Rafael into 28 apartments for older adults who have fallen into homelessness. We know that homes solve homelessness! By acquiring this property, we renew our commitment to creating more solutions for Marin County.

While we celebrate the “brick-and-mortar” achievements, we also salute evolution in our programs. This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Fresh Starts Culinary Academy!  What started as a pilot program training a handful of adults in our shelter kitchen has now grown into an industry-certified, nationally recognized, workforce development program that has trained more than 1,000 people!  Because of your support, it remains free of charge and endures as a catalyst for life-changing opportunities.

Thank you for being part of the Homeward Bound family. We are agents of change!

Paul

Homeward Bound of Marin has acquired the property at 77 Locust Ave. in San Rafael’s Dominican neighborhood to create 28 apartments where vulnerable older adults can put homelessness in their past. With community input, we will develop plans to remodel the aging structures into welcoming homes, using the existing building footprint as our guide.

This proposal addresses a critical need in our community, where the median age is among the highest in California. Seniors make up 27% of people in our programs, and many have fallen into homelessness for the first time.

“We want to offer housing solutions for this vulnerable segment of our community. Many do not qualify for other supportive housing yet do not have the income to secure housing in our extremely expensive rental market,” says Paul Fordham, Chief Executive Officer.

Future residents will have their own apartments with kitchenettes, sharing the site’s existing chapel for community activities. Staff will have an office onsite to support residents in maintaining their benefits, employment, and health care, and to connect them with community resources.

This beautiful property offers many advantages for serving older adults, including a flat site with a paved path around the garden. Grocery stores and partner organizations like Vivalon, with its Healthy Aging Center, are nearby.

In 2024, the Marin County Grand Jury underlined the rising urgency in its report, “Older Adults on the Brink of Homelessness: Time to Act is Now,” noting that a growing number of older adults are losing their homes and that expanding permanent housing is the solution.

We expect construction to begin in 2028, allowing time for planning review and developing partnerships to fund the estimated $15 million in renovations. Along with renewing the buildings, this plan will rebuild lives and provide struggling seniors with the dignity they deserve. We welcome your partnership and look forward to sharing updates.

Making fresh meals for 80 residents at New Beginnings Center has kept the shelter kitchen busy since the doors opened. That same 900-square-foot kitchen also launched Fresh Starts Culinary Academy, which now marks its 25th year with more than 1,000 graduates.

The program began as part of the Regional Occupation Program under San Rafael City Schools, initially built around a 10-month school year. Today’s 11-week training in core culinary skills looks much different.

“We have learned a lot since the beginning — a large part of that is hearing from students what they need to open those first doors to employment,” says Chief  Executive Officer Paul Fordham.

Homeward Bound now operates as a Model Member of Catalyst Kitchens, a national network of 105 nonprofits engaged in culinary training and hunger relief. Paul joined the organization’s board in 2024.

Chef Luis Realpozo, a leader in our kitchen for 24 years, recalls teaching a handful of students at prep tables in the shelter dining room. Now head chef for New Beginnings Center, he hosts each class for a week to make lunch for residents. “I like the challenges of teaching — it keeps your brains working,” he says.

Hands-on learning remains the focus of the program, with a structured curriculum covering kitchen machinery, knife skills, food safety, ingredients, and core techniques. Graduates can apply for six-month paid transitional positions in our kitchens to deepen their skills.

Classroom sessions cover financial literacy, resume writing, and mock interviews. “We’re continually tweaking the curriculum based on what jobs people are getting,” Paul adds. Graduates have forged careers ranging from fine dining to cruise ships to the Safeway meat counter.

After a quarter-century, the name still tells the story. People eager for new opportunities to overcome homelessness or other barriers to employment find recipes for success at Fresh Starts Culinary Academy.

After an unsettling period of couch-surfing, Michele says moving to King Street Senior Housing in Larkspur gave her peace and camaraderie. “There’s support that comes from being with people who have the same problems you do,” she says.

With more stability, she’s been working to address health issues to prepare for surgery needed to repair both knees. Consistent medication has helped with weight loss and resolving depression that descended after the loss of close relatives.

“I’m very grateful to be here. Being at King Street has let me address some things for myself and stay in a stable situation,” she adds.

Her own support network faltered after she became a caregiver for her sister and her mother before that, helping them through their final months. At various times, she put her career on pause and drew down savings to ensure their care.

“I was the helper person in our family,” says Michele, the eldest of four siblings. “It turned out that I needed help from Homeward Bound.”

A San Francisco native, Michele built a diverse professional life, starting with the American Conservatory Theater and roles in regional theater as well as film. She later joined a travel agency, worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and spent nine years with the Alma Via senior community in San Rafael.

Michele serves the King Street program as Resident Assistant, available to greet visitors and contact our staff about urgent issues. She hopes to find her own apartment someday, though she loves her current location in downtown Larkspur.

“The staff at Homeward Bound has been so supportive, I couldn’t ask for more,” she says.

Taking charge of weekend brunch for our largest shelter sounded impossible to Jason at first. Yet he knew firsthand how meals provide moments to pause and connect at New Beginnings Center.

“They said you’ll cook for up to 100 people and I thought ‘no way.’ I warmed up to it,” he says. “And I’m someone who was in that same place, so I made an effort to learn everybody’s names, what they liked.”

When he received a card of thanks from diners, Jason says it was a full-circle moment that felt like closure for his own experience of being unhoused.

“I landed here with no hope. I was 50 years old, homeless, jobless and recovering from a mental breakdown,” Jason says. Our staff helped him assess his options, which led him to our Fresh Starts Culinary Academy.

From the start, Jason says he felt inspired by hands-on practice with chefs that he calls “top of the class.” He took a dishwasher position after graduation for the full-time stability, but soon returned to the kitchen as part of our meal team.

Early last year, an even bigger dream came true when he moved into our new Sweeney Place housing.

“Being homeless is like riding rapids in a huge river. You can’t think ahead much,” he says. “I’m so grateful to Homeward Bound for the culinary program, this housing and the community here.”

With an affordable rent, he’s paying down debt and hopes eventually to finish a bachelor’s degree. “I’m ecstatic about the whole thing,” Jason says.

A block party set the tone for our completed campus in Novato, where more than 75 households have coalesced into a unique neighborhood.

“People are out more now. They play ping-pong together, walk their dogs,” says Bailey Tiura, who oversees the programs as a Senior Director of Housing. “It takes a year to settle in.”

Sweeney Place reached full occupancy in March 2025 in its 26 apartments for adults and families. Next door, 24 veterans live at Puett Place and the Next Key Apartments house 29 adults and families for stays up to two years.

Campus events grew larger during the year, including a lively Halloween Trunk-or-Treat party with support from volunteers who decorated their cars and came in costume to hand out candy. Bingo, game night and Friday movies also have their fans.

With support from Wells Fargo, our staff created financial education workshops that will return for a second series this spring. Other services on campus include a quarterly food pantry.

David Brown, program coordinator for Puett Place, loves to see some residents looking at outside activities. “When you’re homeless, life collapses and it takes time to believe you’re really home. It’s wonderful when someone can start to think about hobbies like bicycling for fun,” he says.

Have you seen Marin’s new space for cooking, learning and community? Welcome to the Community Teaching Kitchen and a full lineup of hands-on public classes led by local chefs, purveyors and restaurateurs.

From Caribbean ceviche to cheeses of Point Reyes, the events offer a tour through varied skills and flavors. Get ready for your midsummer picnic by carving wild king salmon and making gravlax with Chef Roberth Sundell of Petaluma’s Stockhome restaurant!

Our exclusive classes seat 15 guests to learn by doing and then taste together. Every guest goes home with fresh skills, knowledge and recipes to share. Browse the calendar and get cooking!

In its first months of operation, the Gilardi Training and Events Center has opened new doors for our mission-driven businesses and our team. “We really quickly identified new ways for our staff to use their skills,” says Sallie Miller, Social Enterprise Director.

The new bakery space allowed for expansion of Wagster Treats, our premium dog biscuit line, which customers now can find in 65 Mud Bay pet supply stores across Washington and Oregon. Without the new large ovens and warehouse, that leap of growth would have been impossible.

Lead bakers drove the transition, learning to examine workflow, arrange inventory and scale recipes for more baking. Order fulfillment has also moved to the Gilardi Center, where the team now navigates sales platforms and packs orders for shipping entirely from their new quarters.

Public cooking classes at the Community Teaching Kitchen gave the events team a new format to master — preparing ingredients, setting up the room, and supporting chefs for groups of 15 rather than 100.

“We’re always taking a look at where we can navigate people toward new opportunities. There are more and more ways for our staff to build out their paths,” Sallie says.

The addition of two smaller event spaces has expanded front-of-house leadership opportunities as well. “Growth comes whenever you adapt the knowledge,” Sallie says. “We’re doing that all the time now.”

Kids rush into the Community Room for a weekly hour of art, looking for fun that can range from creating paper sculptures to working with clay.

“We get to know the kids and what they like,” says facilitator Jennifer Lipson, who is assigned by our partners at Drawbridge. “Some things are more exciting, like clay, and sometimes it’s more calming. We mix it up with the inward and outward energy.”

She and Michelle Viti lead sessions at our Oma Village program in Novato, one of 15 sites served by Drawbridge in the North Bay. Jennifer has been involved for 25 years, first working at our Family Center shelter.

Executive Director Evelisa Genova of Drawbridge says long-term volunteers for regular sessions are key to Drawbridge success. They offer a bit of stability for children whose families may be facing disruption, she explains.

“Part of the value is being there consistently. That’s where the magic happens,” she adds.

Drawbridge began in 1991 with Homeward Bound as its fiscal sponsor. Its presenters now receive training in trauma-informed practices to help make the most of their time with young artists.

“Today we want to be a deeper collaborator with shelters and other sites,” Evelisa adds. “We achieve that by creating an assessment-free environment that’s expressive and adapted to the community.”

For Jennifer, volunteering complements her work as an art teacher for Marin schools. “It’s been wonderful to see kids relax and embrace the different activities,” says Jennifer, who is a painter herself. “Sometimes art is a way to make sense of things.”

A busy career in nursing and health education left Jan Fickling with the habit of keeping her calendar full. After retiring, she tackled volunteering with gusto and joined our Jonathan’s Place shelter as a meal server.

She appreciates the nonstop activity of helping with dinner for 40+ people in our small kitchen.  She works alongside our staff cook as they toss salads, prep side dishes or set up to serve diners at the counter.

“I’ve found my spot there and have a routine. I’ve learned how to be useful so things stay on track,” Jan says.

With meals prepared by the Homeward Bound kitchen or generously delivered by a volunteer group, the kitchen team can get ready for service and still have time to chat with shelter residents. For Jan, it’s a favorite part of volunteering..

“I really enjoy visiting with the clients,” she says. “I see them become more comfortable with the place and with me. They know I’m coming back.”

Her monthly evening at the shelter fits nicely with other regular commitments as a volunteer around Marin. “I enjoy cooking and it’s fun to be in the kitchen there. It feels like family,” Jan says.