A handoff closes on confirmation
A referral is not finished when it is sent. It is finished when the receiving organization confirms the person arrived.
For Fontana organizations
Fontana referrals should be tracked
Operation Iron Gate is referral tracking and accountability for homeless services, from Pathfinders for Hope. It is built so every case, every handoff and every outcome can be seen and proven. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and Fontana organizations can follow it in the open and ask to be briefed.
What Operation Iron Gate is
What a Fontana referral would prove
Homelessness solutions stop at the referral. Operation Iron Gate closes the gap they leave open. It strengthens continuity after the intake and assessment that the San Bernardino City and County Continuum of Care and Fontana providers already run, with documented handoffs and follow-up.
Nothing closes into “unknown”
There is no exit state in the record that can hold an unknown destination. A case cannot be closed into nothing.
Consent comes before the record
A record cannot exist without a consent step recorded first. Saying no to part of it does not close the door.
What it can do
Four rules the pilot is built on
No ID at the door
An identification barrier should not end an authorized handoff. The proposed Iron Gate Access Credential does not promise same-day eligibility, housing or availability.
Yes by default
The proposed workflow requires a documented decision basis before an authorized denial is recorded.
No dead ends
“Unknown” is not a completed outcome. A handoff stays open until a responsible role records a known next action or an authorized closure.
Tracked handoff
Sending is not closure. The receiving organization’s confirmation is its own status, because sent is not the same as served.
Why it matters
Where Fontana referrals break
Handoffs that start with a patrol team
Fontana's HOST team pairs a police officer, a probation officer and a social worker, and it refers people into The Path, a former motel on Valley Boulevard built to reach 120 beds. When the first handoff runs through a patrol team, the record of where the person went next has to follow them.
One in three exits to “unknown”
California spent $24 billion on homelessness from 2018 to 2023. Its State Auditor found that nearly one in three people left programs for a destination nobody recorded. Report 2023-102.1.
The county's next shelter is in Fontana
In March 2026 the county finalized buying 11109 Jasmine Street in Fontana for a regional navigation center with 100 shelter beds and 100 recuperative care beds, expected in early 2027 and open by referral only. Referrals from across the West End will land here.
Get involved
How Fontana organizations can get involved
The North Bay Pilot is recruiting organizations that send referrals, receive referrals, provide a resource, or carry public responsibility for homeless services. Fontana organizations in any of those roles can watch it now and ask to be briefed.
Follow the North Bay Pilot
The measurement standard is published before the pilot begins, with housing held at 90 days as the lead measure. Results go on The Glass, a public view with no names or case identifiers, whether they are good or bad. See the pilot.
Request a briefing
Tell us your role in Fontana: whether you send referrals, receive them, provide a resource or oversee public outcomes. Request a briefing.
Your work stays yours
Your services, clients, funding and data stay yours. Read what Operation Iron Gate is and the questions directors ask.
The questions
Operation Iron Gate in Fontana: questions
Is Operation Iron Gate running in Fontana?
No. It has not launched anywhere. The first pilot is being prepared in Vallejo, and no Fontana launch has been announced.
What did the latest count find in Fontana?
The January 2026 count for the City of Fontana recorded 470 people homeless in Fontana. Unsheltered homelessness rose from 271 to 343 and sheltered from 93 to 127. The 2025 total of 364 included unincorporated Fontana, which was counted separately in 2026. Of the 470 people counted, 343 were unsheltered, 74 were in emergency shelter and 53 were in transitional housing.
What else is happening in Fontana?
In 2024, Fontana's police HOST team logged 1,554 contacts and moved 84 unsheltered people into interim or temporary housing. The Path opened on July 1, 2024 with 30 people and is run with Water of Life Community Church. Aldea Apartments, which the city calls a landmark for permanent supportive housing, has 78 units.
Can a Fontana organization take part?
Cohort 01 is recruiting in Vallejo. A Fontana organization can request a briefing now. The first conversation is exploratory, and nothing is signed in it.
Does this replace the county's system or the HOST team?
No. Operation Iron Gate is not a replacement for the San Bernardino City and County Continuum of Care, Fontana's HOST team or any provider's own records. It is built to confirm that a referral between organizations reached the person.
I need help myself. Where do I go?
Call 211 for current local referral information. For food, the Feeding America Riverside | San Bernardino lists distribution sites across the area. Operation Iron Gate is not open for public intake yet. GATEHOUSE, our community platform and a smaller version of Operation Iron Gate, is open now: register on GATEHOUSE to ask questions and follow the build. Joining GATEHOUSE does not put you in the North Bay Pilot, which runs only in Vallejo and Solano County.
The evidence
Every figure is cited
Where these figures come from. Fontana: San Bernardino County, 2026 Homeless Count and Survey Report. City of Fontana, Homeless Solutions Action Plan 2025-2026. Fontana Herald News. San Bernardino County, March 2026. City of Fontana, Aldea Apartments. Statewide findings: California State Auditor, Report 2023-102.1 (April 2024). Operation Iron Gate has not been tested in the field. No results are claimed on this page or anywhere on this site, and the North Bay Pilot numbers will be published whether they are good or bad.
Nearby cities. Read the pages for San Bernardino, Rancho Cucamonga and Riverside.
The inside track
Don’t wait for the pilot. Walk in now.
Operation Iron Gate starts in Vallejo. Its community platform, GATEHOUSE, is open today. Fontana agencies, nonprofits and neighbors can join to watch the North Bay Pilot get built, ask our team anything, and help decide what the full system becomes.
Already a member? Log in
GATEHOUSEMember pass
OPEN NOW- Follow the pilotAnnouncements and Pilot Updates as it is built, the good and the bad.
- Ask the teamOpen Q&A with our team and members who know the referral system.
- Report a dead endSent someone for help and nothing happened? Report it and follow the fix.
- Shape the buildTell us what to add, change or remove before it reaches more cities.
Direct intake · projected Jan 2027