Industry
Security for Transitional Housing, Shelters & Nonprofits
GoldnBear's founding specialty: prevention-first security for transitional housing, homeless shelters, low-income housing and nonprofit programs across Los Angeles.
This is where GoldnBear started. Our founders, U.S. Army veterans with backgrounds in social work, set up in Los Angeles and identified homelessness as the primary challenge facing the city. We immersed ourselves in it. We analyzed each incident at the shelters and housing programs we protected and built preventative methods to stop the next one. Today those methods are integral to numerous major transitional housing facilities in the region.
Residents of shelters and transitional housing are often dealing with trauma, mental illness, addiction or all three. A guard who treats them like suspects makes everything worse. Our agents are trained to understand human behavior and to recognize what is happening beneath the surface. They build rapport with residents, learn the rhythm of the facility and step in early when someone is heading toward a crisis. Most incidents never happen.
When a crisis does occur, we respond with a calm and strategic approach that keeps it contained. Our people are trained for overdoses, psychiatric episodes, fights between residents and unwanted visitors at the door. They know how to work with case managers, clinicians and outreach teams. They also know when to involve emergency services and how to do it without turning the facility into a scene.
We work with shelters, bridge housing, permanent supportive housing, low-income apartment communities and the nonprofits that run them. We understand grant reporting, incident documentation and the scrutiny these programs face from neighbors and funders. Our goal is the same as yours: a safe, supportive environment where residents can move forward. We serve programs throughout Los Angeles and Southern California, and we have done this work since 2004.
Challenges and answers
What goes wrong, and how we prevent it
Typical risks
- Resident conflicts, psychiatric episodes and overdoses that escalate without trained staff on site
- Unwanted visitors, dealers and former residents at the door
- Neighbors and funders who judge the program by every visible incident
- Staff burnout and turnover from handling crises they were not trained for
- Weapons, contraband and theft inside the facility
- Guards from traditional companies who treat residents like suspects and make the environment worse
How GoldnBear prevents them
- Agents trained in mental health awareness and de-escalation who build rapport with residents and intervene early
- Door and perimeter coverage that keeps dealers and unwanted visitors out while treating guests with respect
- A calm, low-key response to crises that protects the program's standing with neighbors and funders
- Support for case managers and program staff so they can focus on services, not security
- Regular, respectful checks that reduce weapons and contraband without turning the facility into a jail
- Incident documentation written to satisfy grant reporting and compliance reviews
Recommended
Services for transitional housing, shelters & nonprofits
Trusted by brands, venues and families across Southern California
FAQ
Questions from this industry
Because this is where we started and what we know best. Our founders come from social work and the military. We analyzed incidents in Los Angeles shelters for years and built our preventative methods from that work. Our agents understand residents, not just rules.
Free consultation
Tell us about your site
We will assess the risks and propose a prevention plan, with no obligation.
Free, confidential consultation
Prevent the problem before it starts.
Speak directly with a GoldnBear specialist. Same-day deployment is often available across Southern California, 24 hours a day.