Department of
Health & Human Services

Long Beach, CA – The City of Long Beach’s Homelessness Text Alert Program, which provides text notifications about services and resources available for people experiencing homelessness, is now offering notifications in Spanish. People interested in receiving text notifications in Spanish can text keyword “HOGAR” to 99411.

“Increasing accessibility to the services and resources available for people experiencing homelessness also includes language equity,” said Mayor Rex Richardson. “We are proud to continue to offer this text alert program – now sending messages in Spanish – so that we can continue to provide people with real-time information and connect more people to services.”

Since its launch in March 2023, more than 330 people have enrolled in the Long Beach Homelessness Text Alert program, which provides text notifications for a variety of updates including:

• Operations updates for City-run services, such as the weekly schedule for the Mobile Access Center (MAC), additional services from partnering agencies available at the Multi-Service Center (MSC), and service capacity updates with alternative options, among others.
• How to sign up for programs such as Safe Parking or emergency shelters.
• Alerts for dangerous or inclement weather.

To sign up for the text alert program, people can text keyword “HOGAR” to 99411 for Spanish and keyword “HOME” to 99411 for English. People interested in receiving updates must opt-in and can opt-out at any time. Standard messaging rates apply.

Research indicates a significant number of people experiencing homelessness have cell phones. This additional method of outreach will increase the City’s direct access to these individuals and connect even more to housing and support services.

To ensure people who are experiencing homelessness and have a cell phone are aware of this method of communication, information about the Homelessness Text Alert Program is shared during street outreach conducted by Homeless Services Bureau staff and to people seeking services at the Mobile Access Center and Multi-Service Center.

For more information on the City’s efforts to reduce homelessness in Long Beach, people may visit longbeach.gov/homelessness and follow @lbhealthdept and @longbeachcity on social media and follow the hashtag #EveryoneHomeLB.