Advocate: Addressing homelessness starts with permanent housing
STOCKTON — One of the most dedicated homeless advocates in the county told Stockton City Council members and San Joaquin County Supervisors this week that permanent housing is needed if they want to address the homelessness issue.
The two elected bodies held a joint study session Tuesday night in Board Chambers to discuss homelessness and receive an update on the progress made by the county’s homelessness task force.
Eight representatives of the task force’s working groups presented steps being made to address prevention, housing, employment and enforcement policies to reduce homelessness.
Bill Mendelson, executive director of the Central Valley Low Income Housing Corporation and a member of the task force’s housing work group, said measures such as prevention and employment cannot be addressed until the county addresses housing.
“If we don’t invest in permanent housing, all we’re going to do is move chairs on the Titanic,” he said. “If there is no place for them to go, they are going to stay where they are. Without investing in permanent housing, you’re going to continue seeing the same problem we’ve been seeing on the streets.”
In January, Mendelson’s organization conducted the Point In Time Count, which collects information as to how many sheltered and unsheltered homeless people and families are in Stockton.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, unsheltered homeless are those living on the streets or in encamp- ments, while sheltered homeless are those living in recognized facilities or transitional housing.
Mendelson said the Point In Time count conducted in January recorded about 567 unsheltered homeless people in Stockton and about 1,900 housed in a variety of facilities each night.
He said, however, those are just the individuals he and his volunteers were able to interview during the count. Federal qualifications for homeless do not include those staying in motels, those on general assistance or those “couch surfing” at the time of the count, he said.
“There are woman and children in shelters every night because they have nowhere to go,” Mendelson said. “The men’s shelter is filled every night because they have nowhere to go. There are encampments throughout the city because they have nowhere to go.”
Mendelson said just 100 permanent homes built specifically for the county’s homeless would have a significant impact in addressing the issue. He said 1,000 would be ideal in tackling the issue.
He cited permanent housing programs implemented in Salt Lake City and Dallas that he said are working at reducing homeless in those communities.
Dallas was in the process of building 100 units on 20 acres just outside the city, he said, at a cost of $20 million.
Mendelson said while existing transitional housing programs in the county are needed and used by many of the county’s homeless, they are merely hiding the homeless, not helping them in the longrun.
“It’s wrong to just hide the problem,” he said. “We need to address long-term solutions.”
Greg Diederich, the county’s director of Health Care Services, said the task force’s prevention work group is looking into Proposition 47 grants to build 15 homes throughout the county and find 14 studio apartments to house some of the county’s homeless. The grant would provide $6.45 million a year to help the county achieve that.
In addition, Diederich said the prevention work group is looking into No Place Like Home grants for housing solutions. He said $1.8 billion in funds are available, and the county is eligible for as much as $245 million.
Prior to the working group presentations, board chairman Chuck Winn said working with various committees to address the county’s homelessness issue was an important collaboration.
“When you work together with board and commission and committees, it’s much more positive with regards to outcome,” he said. “Homelessness is an issue whether you’re in a large community like Stockton or the greater county area, or you’re in the smaller cities in San Joaquin County.”
Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs said Tuesday’s conversation wasn’t just about homeless and housing, but what values elected officials and residents place on the community.
“This won’t be something we can solve overnight,” he said. “But at least we can go home knowing we’re taking a step forward to do something about this issue.”