Hi, this is Vanessa, your ENLIGHTENMENT salon host.

You know homelessness is a major problem in California. I bet you do care about the people —parents, kids, veterans—living without a safe place to call home. But with a problem this big and expensive to fix, how do we even know how or where to help?

The good news is there are organizations and individuals coming up with innovative programs and methods. While they may be under the radar, they’re thinking outside the box to find people homes and give them tools to rebuild their lives. If their test pilots and startup projects are showing real results, maybe with a little more exposure, funding and community support, they could roll them out statewide.

I’ve learned about some groups and people in NorCal trying something different with the homeless problem, so I’m inviting them to come talk about what they’re doing, what results they’re seeing, what they need to be more impactful, and how you and I could help.

First up is Women’s Empowerment in Sacramento. The nonprofit does a great job bringing women experiencing homelessness and domestic abuse into its employment-readiness programs and giving them good job skills. The problem is when the graduates try to find permanent housing that fits their budgets. So Women’s Empowerment is coming up with a solution: creating a transitional workforce housing community for graduates to rent space while they stabilize their finances and prepare to find their own home.

Join me and let’s talk with Lisa Culp, executive director of Women’s Empowerment, and a few graduates from the job training program about how they’re moving from turbulent pasts to promising futures, and their advice for what’s needed to help fix California’s homeless issues.

Ruhstaller BSMT has a variety of beers on tap, as well as wine, kombucha and N/A beverages. Please feel free to BYO food.

Transportation Options include:

• Hourly street parking meters along L Street
• Covered/outdoor parking garages on L Street/Kayak Alley between 7th and 8th Street
• *ity garages: Capitol Garage at 1129 10th St. and City Hall Garage at 917 10th St.
• Light rail transit: Ruhstaller is close to stops on the Blue, Green and Gold lines

For more information about ENLIGHTENMENT and about California Groundbreakers, go to californiagroundbreakers.org