State support key to local solutions

Cities such as Riverside work hard with the tools available to help our homeless residents, reduce the number of people living on our streets, and improve the quality of life for everyone in our communities.

Among the tools we rely on are state grants through the Homelessness Housing Assistance Program, known as Homekey grants.

I and other mayors — in Inland Southern California and throughout the state — urge state legislators and the governor to preserve this essential funding as they deliberate on the state budget.

The Homekey grants, established in 2020, have been game-changing and remain essential. In Riverside, we use these resources on innovative programs such as bridge housing, rental assistance with case management, the 56-bed Riverside Cabin Village homeless shelter, and the city’s 50-bed Recuperative Care Center, which opened in June 2021.

These programs cost the city about $2.6 million a year, or $10,400 per person, and house more than 250 residents annually.

Thanks to the Homekey grants, the city was able to leverage a private partnership

“We call on the Legislature and governor to retain the state’s Homekey grants and ensure that our cities can maintain homeless services for those like Peggy who have nowhere else to turn.”

that paid 100 percent of the ongoing operations of the Recuperative Care Program, which helps homeless individuals recover after a hospital discharge.

Without ongoing funding from Homekey grants, these services could devolve from long-term programs to shortterm Band-aids.

Programs such as our Riverside Cabin Village have brought meaningful change to those in Riverside experiencing homelessness.

One of the first residents at the Cabin Village was Peggy Morgan. At 74 years old, Peggy and her dog Elmer found themselves homeless for four months.

Peggy had no surviving family, and when she was diagnosed with throat cancer, her Social Security payments could not sustain her.

With Homekey grant funding, we placed her in our 56bed Riverside Cabin Village after she met with Gov. Gavin Newsom. Peggy spoke about the value of having a key, and the difference it made in her life. Peggy and Elmer ultimately graduated into their own apartment shortly after their time at the Riverside Cabin Shelter, where Peggy received secure housing, connections to medical care and other services, and the support of her case manager.

Efforts like this have been life-changing for many in our communities, but they are all at risk without a commitment of ongoing support from the state. These frontline funds have been instrumental to our crisis response as a city.

Riverside stands ready to work with fellow mayors, the Legislature and the governor to ensure that this funding is used efficiently to address local homelessness as effectively as possible.

We call on the Legislature and governor to retain the state’s Homekey grants and ensure that our cities can maintain homeless services for those like Peggy who have nowhere else to turn.