Panza - New Horizon Communities

Rebuilding Lives. Restoring Hope.

Behind every number is a story of courage and transformation. Take Lana, for example. When she joined our community just over a year ago, she wasn’t sure where to start. Today, she’s rejoined the workforce, is training to become a certified peer counselor, and is known for her compassion and willingness to help others. She’s become a beloved member of our community—living proof that stability and support can change everything.

Panza dba New Horizon Communities is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides permanent supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness. We create and manage tiny home villages that foster community, encourage personal growth, and promote access to the care and services residents need. We currently have three villages, our first village, Quixote Village in Olympia opened in 2013, our second village, Orting Veterans Village opened in 2021, and our third village, Shelton Veterans Village opened late September 2023, giving us the current capacity to house 95 chronically homeless individuals.

Our tiny home villages give our residents the safety and privacy of their own home while also having a built-in community of support of peers with similar lived experiences. We provide permanent supportive housing, an evidence-based model that ties housing with supportive services, and has been shown to improve health conditions, reduce or eliminate substance use, and improve housing stability among participants. Services are voluntary and client centered. Each village has two fulltime case managers who assist residents with overall care coordination and access to services including enrolling in health care benefits and finding doctors, scheduling appointments, providing transportation, enrolling in veteran benefits, enrolling in food stamps, job training, and life skills-building, as well as other resources and services residents are wanting. We connect and partner with local resources as we strive to provide wrap-around services to each resident and meet them where they are at.

We have also established an intern program (behavioral health, nursing, and SUD) so that we can bring services to our residents, making them more accessible, and providing for more consistent support as needed. We have hired an on-site licensed practitioner (LICSW, SUDP) who supervises master’s degree level students intern hours for licensure. Our residents have special needs and unique barriers that can prevent them from having housing stability. Many residents moving into our villages have acute challenges that have affected their housing. A majority of residents have significant adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), as well as co-occurring disorders, that have been exacerbated by homelessness. This often has made it difficult for them to stay housed in a traditional setting. 62% of our residents’ report having a mental health condition, 65% with substance use disorder, 51% with a chronic health condition, 14% with a developmental disability, 52% with a physical disability, 30% with both substance use disorder and mental health condition, and 55% of residents have more than 1 condition. These numbers are all self-reported and we believe actual statistics are much higher.

Many chronic homeless individuals are unable to have housing stability without the supportive services provided in Permanent Supportive Housing. We hope that these new behavioral onsite services will give residents the care and attention they need in the privacy of their own home. Our onsite services will assist residents with the important steps towards healing and recovery.

As we look ahead, we need your help to reach our end-of-year goal of $30,000. Your gift helps us continue opening doors for those who need them most. You are the virtual key that unlocks safety, healing, and new beginnings for people who have felt lost for far too long.

We invite you to view our videos below to learn more. 

Thank you for being part of what matters by helping us support our unhoused neighbors today!