The Center for the Homeless is not a homeless shelter. While we have provided more than 700,000 safe nights and over 1.5 million meals to more than 45,000 men, women and children since our opening in December 1988, our focus is on providing not just life-saving, but life-changing services to each of our guests. Our innovative service model offers homeless families and individuals an on-site structured, step-by-step process to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency. This revolutionary program relies on partnerships with every sector of the community and has been endorsed by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).