Photo: Credit to Bob Brownne with Tracy Press. Pictured: Carrie Grover, TCCC’s Executive Director, sharing her thoughts during the ceremony. Read the article from Tracy Press for more photos and details, including many of the beautiful words spoken by Carrie.
On December 20, 2025, Tracy Community Connections Center gathered with community members at Redemption Road Church to honor neighbors who died while experiencing homelessness. Held on the longest night of the year, our annual Homeless Memorial is a time to pause, remember, and acknowledge lives that mattered deeply, even if their struggles often went unseen.
This memorial is part of the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, observed across the country each year on or around December 21. Communities nationwide come together on this date to recognize the human cost of homelessness and to remember those who passed without stable shelter.
At the memorial, TCCC staff, volunteers, faith leaders, and local residents stood together in quiet reflection while names were read aloud. Each moment served as a reminder that homelessness is not abstract or distant. It exists here, in our city, affecting people with stories, families, and histories.
The names of those remembered: Jared Jones, Barbara Ezzihar, Dennis Wayne Rudd, Deedra Gollihar, Raul Madrigal, Frank Bonilla, and Lisa Nurse, were read aloud as a bell rang in their honor.
Events like this are difficult but necessary. They ground our work in humanity. They remind us why outreach, housing navigation, hygiene services, and case management matter so much, especially during the coldest months of the year. Winter is often the most dangerous season for people living outdoors, and the longest night carries symbolic weight for those experiencing isolation, loss, and vulnerability.
We are grateful to everyone who attended, supported, or held space for this event. As we move into the new year, we carry these names with us, not just as memories, but as motivation to keep showing up for our unhoused neighbors.
In September, Our Executive Director, Carrie Grover, was featured on the Grow Healthy. Help People. podcast, produced by Accordus. In this in-depth conversation, Carrie shared the story behind her journey from volunteer to nonprofit leader, and how TCCC continues to meet the growing needs of Tracy’s unhoused community through compassion, creativity, and connection.
Carrie spoke about the real, human side of TCCC’s work, including moments that remind her why it matters. “There was a young kid who showed up on our [TCCC] office and my staff helped him… the next morning I was on Facebook and somebody had posted a picture of a missing person and it was that kid… We ended up getting him a bus ticket, got him back home to Oregon where he was from… we helped reunite a missing family, which was really exciting.”
She also highlighted that the heart of the organization is the staff and volunteers who bring empathy and lived experience to every outreach effort. With programs like mobile showers, laundry services, case management, and street outreach, TCCC provides hands-on, life-changing assistance across San Joaquin County. “Four of my staff were previously unhoused themselves,” Carrie shared. “Not only are we providing resources for people, but then I’m able to employ people and keep them employed and therefore housed after—and their experience is just invaluable in working with our clients.”
Carrie also discussed the challenges of leading a growing organization, from funding uncertainties to finding permanent space for TCCC’s expanding services. Yet, her optimism and belief in the Tracy community are unwavering. “We do great work and I’m really privileged to be a part of it,” she said.
You can listen to Carrie’s full interview on the Grow Healthy. Help People. podcast, or view it below, where she offers a genuine look into what it takes to create lasting change.
Back in September, we were honored to welcome representatives from Leprino Foods for a check presentation and meet-and-greet with our staff and outreach team. This marks the second year that Leprino’s Community Foundation has generously supported our mission to serve Tracy’s unhoused and at-risk residents.
Last year, Leprino funded the purchase of the truck that pulls our mobile laundry trailer, an essential part of providing free laundry services throughout the community. This year, their donation helped fund a portion of our Outreach Van, which transports clients to medical appointments, shelters, and family reunifications, and allows staff to deliver food, hygiene kits, and other necessities directly to people in need.
During the visit, Leprino employees had the chance to tour the outreach van and learn more about how their contribution helps us reach people where they are. We’re deeply grateful for Leprino’s continued partnership and their commitment to improving lives right here in Tracy.
Thank you, Leprino Foods, for standing with TCCC and helping us bring care, compassion, and connection to our community.
At Tracy Community Connections Center (TCCC), we’ve always known the need for support in our community was significant, but the past year has shown us just how quickly that need can grow. In the first six months of 2025, the number of homeless people seeking help has more than doubled compared to last year.
From January through June of 2023, TCCC served 548 clients. That number rose to 837 in the same period of 2024. But in just the first half of 2025, we served 1,954 clients. “Just straight numbers-wise, that’s kind of alarming,” said our Executive Director, Carrie Grover. “Just looking at that there is obviously something going on. I’m glad we’re here and that people are aware of us and coming to receive help but there is definitely an increase in need.”
We believe much of this increase is tied to rising housing costs and evictions. “We just aren’t keeping up with housing costs. We’ve seen the increase in mortgage rates — but I think a lot of it comes down to wages and housing costs, that’s just my best guess. It seems to be an affordability issue,” Grover explained.
At TCCC, our core programs continue to meet those needs: showers three days a week at New Heart Community Church, laundry services twice a week at Redemption Road Church, and Street Outreach every weekday providing food, hygiene kits, blankets, and transportation to appointments or housing placements. At our office, our case managers work one-on-one with clients on housing applications, rental assistance, and eviction prevention. “We’re trying to keep people who are housed, housed, and then people who are unhoused we’re trying to get them housed,” Grover said. “Whatever it is, my case managers will walk with them one-on-one, identifying their barriers to housing, and ultimately the goal is to get them in and keep them housed.”
Despite hiring additional staff, our team of 12 continues to face an overwhelming demand. “For the one family we get housed the next day a new one pops up, it does feel like we’re just treading water sometimes,” Grover noted. The challenge is compounded by lost federal funding, including cuts to the Emergency Food and Shelter Program, and ongoing concerns about Medi-Cal reductions.
Still, the work continues. Our partnerships with Tracy PD’s Familiar Faces Program, Community Medical Centers, and SJ Cares allow us to connect people with medical and behavioral health care while addressing immediate needs. Yet Grover emphasizes that homelessness isn’t always visible: “What we have seen is the city has done a good job of cleaning up the encampments but that necessitates people going elsewhere… couch surfing, living in a motel, living with family. It still is considered housing instability.”
Above all, we remain focused on the humanity of those we serve. “We see a mom living in her car with kids and these kids go to the same school as my kids go to,” Grover said. “That woman didn’t do anything wrong. She doesn’t have a lot of support. She lost her job due to a disability.”
Homelessness in Tracy is not about stereotypes but our own neighbors, families, and people who have fallen on hard times. “It’s all ages, all circumstances and I really want people to understand that is not primarily driven by drug abuse and mental health — those are an issue — but so many people we see are just down on their luck,” Grover said. “Nobody can make minimum wage and afford to live in Tracy unless you have a family, and housing prices are out of control.”
Click here to get involved. Together, we can meet the rising need and help our community’s most vulnerable find stability and hope.
Information for this article was collected by Tracy Press in collaboration with Tracy Community Connections Center. View article here.
Tracy Community Connections Center (TCCC) is proud to share that our Executive Director, Carrie Grover, was recently invited to the California State Assembly to be recognized as a leader in homeless services. Carrie attended the Assembly during the introduction of HR 44 (Ward), a resolution honoring the invaluable work of homeless service providers across California in recognition of Homelessness Awareness Month, November 2025.
The resolution highlights the extraordinary dedication of providers who work tirelessly to help individuals and families end their episodes of homelessness. It notes that California has more than 187,000 people experiencing homelessness, and that providers deliver critical services including outreach, street medicine, food assistance, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing. It also recognizes the challenges providers face, from affordable housing shortages and low wages to emotional trauma and staffing difficulties, as well as their innovative responses during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic through programs like Project Roomkey and Homekey.
We are grateful for the recognition, and the emphasis that it places on the work of homeless service providers like ourselves in a collective effort requiring compassion, resilience, and collaboration. This honor reflects the dedication of every staff member, volunteer, and partner who helps our community’s most vulnerable neighbors find stability and hope. The Assembly’s acknowledgment underscores the essential role of these services and the urgent need to support the people who deliver them.
At TCCC, we remain committed to connecting those experiencing homelessness with resources, guidance, and immediate relief. This recognition serves as both an honor and a renewed call to action to continue advocating for housing solutions and the well-being of our unhoused neighbors.
