From Contra Costa Health:
Contra Costa Health (CCH) has been awarded $5.7 million towards compassionately tackling homeless encampments thanks to a significant grant from the State’s Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) program.
The funding will enable CCH to collaborate with the City of San Pablo to clear an encampment on city property while prioritizing the wellness and safety of residents. CCH will direct resources and housing solutions aimed at permanently resolving unsheltered homelessness.
The grant will provide homeless outreach and engagement teams, care management and fund twenty interim modular shelters, along with trash removal and site cleanup. The modular shelters will expand available interim housing and services to encampment residents while permanent housing plans are developed.
This project builds on CCH’s previous success as a partner with the City of Richmond with a similar encampment resolution project. CCH collaborated with the city and other community partners to deliver a variety of services at the encampment – including showers, meals and laundry – while enhancing safety measures and successfully securing longer term housing solutions for its residents.
“We appreciate this state grant, which will allow the county and City of San Pablo to humanely and effectively address homelessness by providing both interim and permanent housing with comprehensive support services,” said Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, whose district includes San Pablo. “This is a great example of how to effectively move individuals from encampments to housing while ensuring they get the care and services they need to stay housed.”
The San Pablo project will fully assess needs of encampment residents and combine innovative and proven methods to create pathways to permanent housing within the three-year grant term. The program model uplifts participant choice and overcomes barriers to transitioning into housing by providing options that keep people, pets, and possessions together.
“The City of San Pablo is incredibly appreciative of this opportunity to help our underprivileged and underserved residents access better futures for themselves,” said Matt Rodriguez, San Pablo City Manager. “Working in partnership with Contra Costa Health, we harness experience and proven methods to tackle homelessness in ways that protect the safety, wellness and dignity of our encampment residents.”
CCH is also working with Richmond and the City of Antioch, both of which received their own grants from the State’s ERF program. Richmond was awarded $9.3 million and Antioch $6.8 million in the latest round of Encampment Resolution Funding.
“Now more than ever, cities, counties and service providers must work together,” said Anna Roth, Chief Executive Officer of CCH. “I am grateful for partners like these, and for their leadership and collaboration in addressing community needs around homelessness.”
San Pablo’s grant will have a significant impact on homelessness in the city, but the overall impact will be felt across the county. The project allows existing CCH resources to go further, helping more people experiencing homelessness in Contra Costa County.
For more information on homelessness in Contra Costa County, visit our website.
And will push some of the homeless into El Cerrito and Hercules.
Firestone 11R
Exactly!
Without mental health and drug counseling these programs are basically temporary relocation programs. The “homeless” are largely individuals struggling with addiction and/or mental illness. They are sick and deserve treatment, a hotel room to keep using or an apartment to continue suffering psychosis in are not long term solutions.
“Without mental health and drug counseling these programs are basically temporary relocation programs.”
With the likely passage of Prop 36 VERY SOON are we returning to semi-permanent or permanent prison relocation? Overcrowding again? Inhumane treatment again? Sick people up the wazoo in prison again. Deja vu? Well, at least one thing is different. We have a supreme court that is likely OK with overcrowding and inhumane treatment, so there’s that.
The overcrowding could be solved by building more minimum security prisons (see “Wayside Honor Rancho”). Inhumane? Sometimes, and sometimes not.
Firestone 11R
It’s not binary, temporary housing or prison. Mental health treatment and drug counseling can be a solution to avoid just housing people who are sick and can minimize the risk of them being incarcerated.