How can I find help with employment and housing in Monterey California if I have a criminal history?

I have a friend who has come to visit me from another state. We are both over 45 years old and our fathers were both in the Army intelligence on the east coast. He has had a troubled life like myself except he has a criminal history on the east coast. It started when he was a teenager and he was sentenced to maximum security prisons from the age of 22 through 32. He is done with parole and has changed with age. No drugs or alcohol. For the two years I have observed him personally he is definitely not violent. He is slender and weakend by age and his experiences. He holds college degrees from a good college on the east coast in philosphy and computer science and he fixes all my computer problems like a wizard. But he has a harder time here in Monterey getting hired at any job even a minimum wage job. I myself have a felony arrest for drugs dismissed and find I am unemployable as a bad risk even for basic clerical jobs at minimum wage. No one will rent to him. He rented a room from an aquaintence but they took the cash and said they decided they did not want to rent to anyone because of who they were dating or something. I have a felony conviction for drug possession and a dui, and the felony was dismissed and I can’t find work or housing here either. Are there any support groups? Even the churches here won’t help. Any suggestions?