$500K dedicated to shelter solutions
CHICO >> The Butte County Board of Supervisors officially approved a comprehensive sheltering plan developed by the city of Chico as transitional shelter for permanent housing on Tuesday.
The city would use property where 60 aluminum frame pallet shelters will be placed as single occupancy 64 square foot residences. The site would have laundry and portable showers and restrooms and be managed with a contracted local nonprofit agency. Butte County Behavioral Health will coordinate voluntary mental health services for those with serious mental illness or state medical insurance.
Funding will be covered between the city, Butte County Continuum of Care, the county and “generous community donations.” In addition, $500,000 of the next round of anticipated COVID-19 relief funds will be used, contingent on the federal government passing the “American Rescue Plan” — the latest proposed stimulus package.
Supervisors Tami Ritter and
Tod Kimmelshue brought the item forward.
Kimmelshue said he, Ritter and a few members of the Chico City Council have been meeting and saw this as a good option to “help the city remedy the homeless situation” and later motioned for the county to commit that $500,000 amount of future COVID-19 relief funds to Chico to assist with temporary housing.
“How that will be done and where that money will be spent will be decided at a later date,” Kimmelshue said.
The move passed 4-1, with Supervisor Doug Teeter voting against. He said he didn’t want to commit funds to something when there wasn’t a full report on what all those funds can be used for under the American Rescue Plan.
Kimmleshue, Ritter, Chief Administrative Officer Andy Pickett, Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge, councilors Sean Morgan and Kasey Reynolds, City Manager Mark Orme and other staff have held meetings to discuss plans for a
possible temporary shelter.
The purpose of the item, Kimmelshue said, is to “help the city of Chico to get people that have been excused from the public areas where they were camping — we’re trying to find a location for them to stay temporarily and possibly make it into some kind of transitional housing.”
“We don’t want to get too specific,” Kimmelshue continued.
“Every time we locate an area that might be suitable for these people to go, things change.”
Ritter voiced support for the county committing $500,000 to help address a number of issues “in the ways that we are supposed to be addressing them,” she said. Ritter provided a number of examples, including providing services, addressing transportation needs, and collaborating with Butte County Public Health and Behavioral Health.
Additionally, because congregate shelters are restricted due to the pandemic, Ritter also proposed addressing needs including bathrooms, showers, trash and landfills.
Ritter said the aforementioned meetings among the county, city and service providers have shed light on some disinformation and misunderstanding about who is responsible for the issue, and emphasized the county bears a certain amount of that responsibility.
“There has been an inordinate amount of misinformation that has been spread through not just folks who are uninformed, but also some elected folks who are believed to be in the know regarding how funding works, how services operate and basically, whose responsibility is it for those who are without homes right now,” Ritter said.
“This is both a county, as well as a city, as well as our nonprofits — we are all responsible for this. But we really need to be able to work collaboratively and to really be putting forth the information that our residents deserve, which is the correct information about whose responsibility it is to provide certain services.”
After hearing the announcement of the decision, Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge said, “I think it’s great the county’s willing to step (in) as a partner in this as we look at possibilities of locations.
“It will hopefully move the conversation forward and give us the ability to deal with the issue in a way that can provide some real solutions. It’s really positive to see that come to fruition. I’m glad they’re stepping up to the plate and moving forward with this.”
Orme said, “The city of Chico continues to work in collaboration with Butte County — it’s an exciting opportunity to be able to evaluate the best means of finding solutions toward sheltering needs.”
He added the city and the Homeless Solutions Coordinator Suzi Kochems are still evaluating those “best means” and will soon return to the council at a future meeting to share “whether those opportunities make the most sense.” It is unlikely this will happen at a meeting in March, and Orme said such proposals will likely come before the council in April at the earliest.