Santa Clarita Valley nonprofit, The New Way, announces its 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Hoops For Hart a fundraiser to support the 1,000+ homeless students in the William S. Hart School District.

The tournament is set to take place on Sunday, Aug. 11 at the Santa Clarita Sports Complex.  Games will take place from 8 a.m to 5 p.m. All ages from eight to 80 are welcome and will be grouped by age. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the students experiencing homelessness in the Hart School District.

The New Way supports these unhoused students and families in three capacities:

-Permanent Housing: security deposits, first/last month’s rent, utilities, groceries, etc.

-Temporary Housing: hotel/motel stays

-The Pantry Project: a new initiative set to kick off next school year was created by the charity to help stock each school’s pantry with food, clothes and toiletries.

The New Way was founded by Jess Guidroz, an ex-teacher at La Mesa Junior High for 10 years. Guidroz, his wife, and half of their board of directors all attended junior high and high school in the Hart School District, so the sentiment hits very close to home.

After watching the Hart District’s homeless population almost triple from 388 in 2019 (pre-pandemic) to 921 in 2022, Guidroz knew he had to do something.

“After overhearing one of my students say he hadn’t eaten in 2 days I called our social worker and found out that we had 72 unhoused students at our school (La Mesa) alone. I started the nonprofit the next day.” said Guidroz.

The New Way uses local events, such as Eat Drink Local, Veg Fest, and Hoops For Hart as avenues to raise funds and awareness around this issue.

They hope that the community will support the event by signing up to play, sponsoring, or simply sharing this information with whoever might be interested in participating