Our Partners
Starting Over
Starting Over Inc., based in Riverside but stretching all the way into Los Angeles County, aims to eradicate poverty and incarceration, and create communities of care that support self-determination and that keep families safe.
The organization blends direct services with civic engagement and public policy work using the A New Way of Life program model. Using this model, Starting Over Inc. addresses both the direct effects of destructive policies and the root causes of their client’s difficult situations.
Starting Over helps men, women, and children who are unhoused transition from being unhoused and addresses the often associated cycles of poverty, substance abuse, mental illness, and recidivism.
Through consistent meetings and correspondence, Starting Over Inc. has provided the California MEPS Hub with information about their organization’s policies and practices, to ensure the best adaptation of MEPS for the staff and guests of Starting Over Inc.
CAL-PEP
CAL-PEP is a community-based, African American-centered organization dedicated to providing coordinated HIV, behavioral health, outreach, and navigation services to communities of color in the Bay Area. CAL-PEP programs have evolved with HIV science for a high impact approach since 1990.
The organization’s approach focuses on maintaining confidentiality with their clients, meeting their clients on their time and turf with a nonjudgmental approach. They provide one-on-one repeated contact with clients, providing resources for safer sex and safer syringe use, linking their clients to care, and providing support through peer-based programs with incentives.
CAL-PEP has grown over the past three decades, providing crucial support services to youth, adult, families, people experiencing homelessness, people who use substances, sex workers, previously incarcerated individuals, and women of trans experience. Their focus is getting people with HIV into treatment and reducing HIV transmission. Additionally, they seek to expand prevention with HIV- negative persons through PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and linking persons who use drugs to substance use treatment and harm reduction services.
They utilize the “Each one teach one,” to provide accessible health education to reduce sexual risk, prevention infections, link individuals to health care, treatment and support services.
Kindful Restoration
Kindful Restoration is a nonprofit, community-based organization located in Riverside California, focused on supporting successful reentry for individuals impacted by incarceration, homelessness, and substance use. Founded in 2022, the organization offers wraparound services including transitional housing, peer support, employment services, and care coordination.
Kindful Restoration’s mission is to facilitate recovery and reintegration for individuals affected by addiction, dysfunction, and trauma. Using their Kindness Tools to guide interactions with mindfulness and kindness, they provide comprehensive support both inside correctional facilities and in outpatient settings. They focus on nurturing physical, social, mental, and emotional well-being, offering tailored counseling, mindfulness skills, kindness tools, and enhancing life skills. Their approach creates a supportive environment that prioritizes kindness, aiding in the healing and successful transition of participants who have been involved with the justice system.
Kindful Restoration envisions a future where individuals overcome the cycles of addiction and incarceration, empowering individuals for a dignified recovery and successful reintegration. Their vision is to be a beacon of hope and healing, fostering resilience and personal growth, and transforming lives and communities through the power of kindness.