‘More homes’ a primary tool in fight against homelessness
Homelessness is a complex problem that doesn’t often lend itself to easy solutions.
But one crucial tool in the fight against this local scourge is kind of a no-brainer, said homeless advocate Ian Sharples.
“The solution to ending homelessness is more homes,” Sharples said as he opened up the third-annual California Landlords’ Summit on Homelessness
held Wednesday in Bakersfield.
There’s a “wide gap between what we have and what needs to be done,” said Sharples, executive director of the Income Property Association of Kern, and one of the organizers of the summit.
Held online via Zoom this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, the summit’s primary goal is recruiting property owners and landlords to rent to homeless individuals and families — a process that is made possible through financial incentives and case management support.
Due to the past two summits, more than 150 apartment and housing units were pledged by property owners.
Sanjeev “Sunny” Advani, the owner of Synergy Real Estate and Property Management, has rented apartment units to the formerly homeless. He was on the summit’s discussion panel Wednesday.
“The way that we look at it, homeless people ... are stereotyped,” he said.
The stereotypes say they will skip out on rent, they will damage the units. But in Advani’s experience, these are risks that are at least as high in the regular rental market, if not higher.
The homeless receive help with the rent, and landlords receive protection against damage.
“We want to meet these people. We want to talk with these people,” he said. “It’s not necessarily more risky having a person with a voucher vs. without a voucher.”
Raven Ducuir and her sons found themselves without a home more than seven years ago after her marriage fell apart. After living several months at the Bakersfield Homeless Center, she was able to obtain a housing voucher.
Finding a landlord who would rent to her was no cakewalk.
“It seemed impossible,” she said.
She didn’t have a car, so she had to take the bus to speak with landlords.
“I had to be back before my boys were out of school,” she remembered.
But she finally was given a chance. She’s been in the same unit for close to seven years.
Other speakers included Greg Terzakis, senior vice president of the California Apartment Association, who spoke out against Proposition 21 on the November ballot, which, if it is approved by voters, would allow local governments to enact rent control on housing that was first occupied over 15 years ago.
Guest speaker Curt Williams, McKenney-Vento Homeless Education Program Supervisor at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools, said some “21 percent of our homeless are families with children.”
Many families “are just a paycheck away or a job loss away from homelessness,” Williams said.
“We can’t meet everyone’s needs,” he said. “That’s where landlords step in.”