About Home and Heart
History
Home & Heart began in early 2018, as an internship project of two Masters of Social Work students, aided by professor Sue Steiner, from California State University, Chico. At the time the City of Chico had less than 2% vacancy rate, and older adults were especially vulnerable to the lack of affordable housing options. Many were already facing homelessness or barriers to aging in place including inflated costs of living, lack of affordable caregiving options, and limited fixed incomes. To address these issues, Home & Heart was designed as an intergenerational shared housing program that matched older adults who had an extra bedroom and needed help aging in place, with mature college students seeking affordable housing. Then in November 2018 the Camp Fire tore through Butte County destroying most of Paradise and large portions of the surrounding communities as well. Roughly 50,000 people were displaced in a matter of hours and our community did not have the housing resources to meet the need. Older adults were disproportionately affected in this loss. While we still believe in an intergenerational model of home sharing, the home seeking population with the greatest need has been older adults, many of whom are Camp Fire survivors. Flexing to the needs of the community, Home & Heart is open to all adult home seekers and providers throughout Butte County.
Mission
Vision
Meet The Team
Megan Massie
Jessica Garcia
Cathryn Carkhuff
Outreach and Intake Specialist
Homesharing Program Coordinator
Executive Director
Megan has lived in Chico for over 20 years and has decades of experience after working for various nonprofits and as a realtor. In her free time, Megan enjoys traveling with her family, biking, camping, and hiking.
Jessica is a highly motivated and progress-focused case manager with a long-standing background in social work, specifically working with those experiencing homelessness and severe mental illness.
Cathryn has over 15 years of working with community based organizations doing art, social services and social justice. In her free time, she enjoys being in and learning from the natural world.
Board of Directors
Sue Steiner
Ph.D., MSW, Board Chair
Sue has more than 30 years’ of community social work experience, including a focus on housing. She has taught community organizing, social welfare policy, program development and program evaluation at Arizona State University and California State University, Chico for almost 30 years.
Amber Benedict
Board Treasurer
Amber was an activities director for a memory care facility before pursuing her education in social work. She chose this career path because she wanted to help find solutions for the unhoused community. She spent two years with Chico Housing Action Team as an intern and is now the Program Manager with CHAT where she works to house people living with a mental illness.
Shannon Simmons
MSW, LCSW
Shannon has worked for seven years as a mental health clinician, mostly providing counseling and mental health education to older adults throughout Butte County with Passages. Shannon also has a background working with individuals with intellectual disabilities/mental health challenges. She is passionate about being a part of Home and Heart board, and being a part of creative solutions addressing homelessness/insecure housing. In her spare time, Shannon enjoys spending time with family, her pets, and participating in the sport of roller derby.
