The Drop-in Center in downtown Palo Alto helps the homeless begin their day in a positive way and is the only center of its type in the Mid-Peninsula. The Center serves more than a 150 people a day who want to have breakfast, get toiletries or other basic survival gear, meet others, make phone calls, access voicemail services, pick up mail and get free transportation vouchers. The social aspect of the Drop-In Center allows case managers to build relationships of trust to help homeless people find shelter, medical care, substance abuse programs and jobs. Located behind the Red Cross building near the downtown Palo Alto train station the Drop-In Center is the point of entry for the rotating faith based shelter. Volunteer doctors provide on-site medical care weekly.

Located in downtown Palo Alto, The Food Closet distributes bags of groceries to homeless and low-income clients. Clients are permitted to visit twice a week to get provisions. Besides meeting the critical nutritional needs, The Food Closet helps very low-income stay in housing by freeing up the money they would need to spend on food to pay their rent. Besides canned food they receive fresh produce, dairy products and bread donated by area supermarkets.

This emergency shelter rotates monthly among faith-based organizations in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Between 13 and 18 men and women stay up to 90 days and receive a hot meal at night and breakfast in the morning. During their stay they meet regularly with case managers and develop a plan to deal with issues that have led to their homelessness. The goal is to move clients into transitional housing within 90 days.

The Clothes Closet is open each Wednesday afternoon and is staffed entirely by volunteers who sort and distribute clothing, most of which is donated. The program also helps the homeless by providing back-packs, jackets, socks, underwear and toiletries. Each fall a major effort is undertaken to provide the homeless with additional supplies such as warm coats, hat and gloves to help them survive the winter weather.

Each week Urban Ministry provides five hot meals at faith based organizations in Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Staff members plan the menu and provide the supplies for teams of volunteers to prepare and serve the meals. This program provides an opportunity for the homeless to break bread with others and is one of the most gratifying programs for the volunteers. Between 60-100 meals are served at each meal and over 22,000 hot and nutritious meals are served to the homeless and low-income individuals in the Mid-Peninsula area.

The Urban Ministry of Palo Alto Money Management Program is designed to help homeless and at-risk people in the Mid-Peninsula area live on a limited fixed income. While some people enter the program voluntarily as a way of receiving budgeting assistance, many people are mandated by Social Security to have a representative manage their money before it is released to them. The goal of this program is the help low-income people maintain their pace to live through basic living expense management. Low-income people gain a sense of security knowing that through good money management they will be able to pay the rent and stay housed.