Hearts & Paws Family Care Home Program
A home base for families whose children need serious care — free of charge.
When a child has a significant medical condition or special-education needs, families are often forced to choose between being close to treatment and having a stable, suitable place to live. The Family Care Home Program removes that trade-off. Hearts and Paws Foundation owns a single-family home in Sunnyvale, California, and provides it — rent-free — to one family at a time, together with support for the whole family, including its animal companions.
What the program provides
- Transitional rent-free housing. Up to twelve months (renewable) in a Foundation-owned home near the hospitals, therapy providers, and special-education resources of Santa Clara County. No rent, no deposit. Utilities are contracted and paid by the family directly with providers.
- An accessible, therapy-ready home. The Foundation installs and maintains accessibility improvements, child-safety features, and sensory and therapeutic fixtures at its own expense.
- Animal-assisted family visits. Recurring visits by insured, credentialed therapy animals — for the resident family and, as capacity allows, other eligible families.
- Family pet care support. Vaccination and microchip packages and emergency veterinary assistance for the household pets of eligible families, always paid directly to licensed veterinary clinics — never in cash.
Who is eligible
The program serves families that meet all of the following:
- A child aged 0–17 (through 21 if enrolled in special-education or transition services) with a significant medical condition, developmental disability, or special-education need, documented by a physician, hospital, IEP/IFSP, or regional center.
- The child receives, or is scheduled to receive, care or services in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Financial or logistical hardship — household income at or below 80% of Area Median Income, intense medical treatment requirement, or a documented hardship such as relocating for treatment.
- A household of no more than four adults and two children.
- Willingness to follow the housing agreement and house standards.
Directors, officers, and contributors of the Foundation, and their family members, are not eligible for any program benefit, as federal tax law requires. Animal-assisted visits and pet care support are open to eligible families throughout the service area even while the home is occupied.
Family pet care support reaches further than housing. It is open to any family in the service area that has a household pet and a child with a significant medical condition, developmental disability, or special-education need — whether or not that family is applying for housing, and whatever the household’s income. For pet care support we ask only for a signed statement naming the child’s condition and the treating provider, clinic, IEP program, or regional center, which we may verify with that provider.
How selection works
Applications are accepted year-round and acknowledged within five business days. Complete applications are reviewed within 30 days, and every decision is documented in writing. When the home is occupied, eligible families join a waitlist and may be offered animal-assisted visits and pet care support in the meantime.
Our commitments
Every program service is free of charge, at every income level — we never solicit donations from the families we serve. Assistance for individuals is provided in kind or paid directly to service providers. Family information stays confidential: we report only aggregate numbers publicly, and we never publish a family’s name or photo without written consent.
The program does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship or immigration status, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, marital or familial status, age, medical condition, disability, veteran status, or source of income.
How to apply
The application is short — three pages, and most families only need Sections A–D and the signature page. Download the form, fill it in, and email the completed copy to board@heartsandpawsfoundation.org; you can also post it to us. There is no fee to apply, we will help you fill it in if you’d like, and we accept applications in your preferred language.
Hearts and Paws Foundation is a California nonprofit corporation exempt under Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3), operating as a private operating foundation (EIN 33-4956546). Questions: board@heartsandpawsfoundation.org.
