The City Council voted to approve a grant application for affordable housing funding as state regulators raise questions about Riverside's commitment to its housing targets.
Katie holds an "I'm Home!" sign alongside Path of Life Ministries LINK program staff members inside her new apartment. After months rebuilding her life following a violent relationship, Katie secured her first apartment with support from the LINK program, which she accessed through the La Sierra Library. (Courtesy of the City of Riverside)
Social work interns stationed at City libraries connected 329 residents to more than 900 services last year through a homeless outreach program that is seeking two more years of City funding, officials told the Housing and Homelessness Committee Thursday.
The Love Your Neighbor Collaborative — also known as LINK — places trained social work interns inside City library branches, where they conduct outreach and case management for residents experiencing homelessness or housing instability. Path of Life Ministries CEO Chris Oberg described the program's presence, recalling a visit to the Downtown Main Library.
"A citizen came off of the elevator and walked over to the reception desk and in a loud voice said, 'I'm here for my social worker,'" Oberg said. "And the receptionist at the desk at the library pointed to the adjacent room, tucked around the corner, snacks, water bottles, a very unpretentious sign and a student social worker was sitting and waiting."
The program began as a Ward 7 social work internship at La Sierra University, was brought under the City in 2018 by then-Mayor Rusty Bailey and settled into the library system in 2022.
One full-time social work specialist and 15 interns — drawn from about a dozen universities, including California Baptist University, Loma Linda University and La Sierra University — contributed more than 1,500 in-kind professional service hours last year across five library locations. Life skills education was the most requested service.
Jasmine Sajadi, the program's licensed clinical social worker and supervisor, told the committee that March is National Social Work Month and that internships are essential to developing practitioners.
"There is no substitute for hands-on experience in the field," Sajadi said. "Internships allow students to develop these critical skills in real time while serving members of our community."
Library Director Erin Christmas said the program has reduced the severity of incidents at library branches.
"Having the social workers on site, they help out with those things," Christmas said. "It creates a safer environment for all of our library customers."
The program paused at the Eastside Library last April due to construction at the Eastside branch and has since moved to a new Eastside location. Staff confirmed that the Marcy Library, one of the program's two newest locations along with La Sierra, has already seen growing engagement.
A staff report seeking two years of continued funding through the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention grant is set to go before the full City Council on April 7.
More information: The Housing and Homelessness Committee meets monthly. For information on affordable housing programs, visit riversideca.gov.
The City Council voted to approve a grant application for affordable housing funding as state regulators raise questions about Riverside's commitment to its housing targets.
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