BREAKING NEWS
Emergency Food & Shelter Program (EFSP) – Funding Application Open!
DEADLINE – JUNE 5 – To supplement emergency food and shelter programs here in the North Bay, the National EFSP Board has chosen Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino Counties to receive funding from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). [Read]
By the Numbers – Housing in Sonoma County
Posted by Generation Housing, June 1, 2020
This is a series of charts showing housing data in Sonoma County, including median home prices, median rents, job growth to housing production, severely crowded renter households, building permits, homeownership, housing production, funding, etc.
Generation Housing (Gen H) has an inspiring new vision of housing and quality of life in Sonoma County, advocating for and supporting the action to build the housing our community needs to thrive. [Read]
Close to Home: Privilege and Inequity in the Time of COVID
Written by James Gore, Sonoma County Board of Supervisors
Press Democrat, May 31, 2020
[Read]
200 Homeless Minneapolis Residents Turned a Hotel Into a Communal Sanctuary
Lauren Kaori Gurley, Vice, June 3, 2020
The Sheraton, just blocks from where police killed George Floyd, is being managed as a commune, run by the residents and without leaders. [Read]
Statement on Structural Racism and Racial Inequity
Posted by National Alliance to End Homelessness, June 2, 2020
The National Alliance to End Homelessness stands in solidarity with all parties fighting to end pervasive structural racism in the United States. The recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor reinforce a terrible legacy of systematic racism, racial injustice, and senseless violence inflicted against African Americans. It is time now that we all stand up in opposition to such oppression. [Read]
To Reach The Homeless, An Alabama Church Brings ‘The Steeple To The Streets’
David Greene and Danny Hayek, NPR Radio, June 1, 2020
In Montgomery, Ala., just down the road from where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, a noisy trailer sits in a tiny church parking lot.
The trailer is like a mini-laundromat, equipped with three washers and dryers and two shower stalls. Every week, it serves a homeless congregation at River City Church — even through a pandemic. [Read]
Supreme Court Rules on Redaction Costs
In National Lawyers Guild, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter v. City of Hayward, the Supreme Court today holds that a requester under the Public Records Act need not pay costs associated with redacting protected materials from an electronic record before the record is disclosed.
The City of Hayward charged over $3,000 for 40 hours its employees had spent editing digital police body camera footage. The recordings were made during 2014 protests of grand jury decisions not to indict police officers involved in the killings of unarmed African-Americans Eric Garner and Michael Brown. The court’s decision comes as protests continue over the killing of another unarmed African-American, George Floyd, in Minneapolis. [Read more] [Legal document]
OTHER NEWS & EVENTS
Update on Current Homeless Services Efforts in Santa Rosa
Posted by City of Santa Rosa, May 29, 2020
During this public health emergency, the City of Santa Rosa has been working on several fronts to assist individuals experiencing homelessness, so as to protect this vulnerable population and the community at large from greater spread of COVID-19.
* Addressing Homelessness During the Public Health Emergency
* Actions to Resolve Encampments I Parks and the Pubic Right of Way
* Ensuring Those in Encampments Are Offered Available Services and Shelter
* The Longer Term Plan
[Read more]
A Window onto an American Nightmare
Nathan Heller, The New Yorker, May 25, 2020
As the homelessness crisis and the coronavirus crisis converge, what can we learn from one city’s struggles? (Long article, but extremely detailed and well-written). [Read more]
City-sponsored homeless camp at Finley Community Center draws dozens of residents
Will Schmitt, Press Democrat, May 25, 2020
One week after Santa Rosa opened its first sanctioned homeless camp, dozens of people have moved from outdoor encampments to a parking lot near the Finley Community Center, where the vast majority of new residents of the temporary shelter site have stuck around with few problems, officials said. [Read more]
2020 Consolidated Plan and One Year Action Plan Now Available for Public comment
By Sonoma County Community Development Commission, May 1, 2020
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), requires jurisdictions receiving federal funds from Community Development Block Grant, HOME Investment Partnerships, and Federal Emergency Solutions Grant programs to develop and submit a Five-Year Consolidated Plan. The plan identifies the needs of lower-income persons in the locality and the proposed actions to be taken to serve those needs. [Read more]
Download Draft 2020 Consolidated Plan and One Year Action Plan (PDF: 2 MB)
Safe Social Distancing Program at Finley Parking Lot
Posted by City of Santa Rosa, updated May 20, 2020
The City of Santa Rosa is establishing a Safe Social Distancing area, in the City-owned parking lot at Finley Community Center, for temporary use by vulnerable unsheltered individuals amid the coronavirus pandemic. To help answer questions about the program, the following FAQs have been developed and will continue to be updated as we receive additional questions from the community. [Read more]
* General Questions about the Program
* Site & Program Operations
* Public Safety
* Homelessness Amid Coronavirus
PD Editorial: Santa Rosa needs to include public in homeless plans
Press Democrat Editorial Board, May 24, 2020
Santa Rosa officials cut more than a few corners as they established the city’s first sanctioned homeless camp, which opened this past week at the Finley Community Center.
There wasn’t a City Council vote or a public hearing.
The City didn’t even notify Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s public health officer, who has largely determined what can stay open and what must remain closed during the coronavirus pandemic. [Read more]
Innovations in Affordable Housing Virtual Summit 2020 – August 11-12, 2020
Invitation to register posted by PopHLC (Population Health Learning Collaborative), May 8, 2020. [Watch video introduction] [Register here]
A sample of talk categories that may be of interest to homeless advocates like you:
- Innovative Small Residences (Tiny Homes and ADUs)
- Helping the Individual Who Need Housing
- Reducing the Construction Cost of Housing
- Zoning, Coding, and other Local Policies
- Innovations in Home Sharing, Ownership, and Rental Models
- Providing Housing for the Unhoused and High-Risk Groups
Safe Social Distancing Program for Unsheltered Individuals
Posted by City of Santa Rosa, May 6, 2020
The City of Santa Rosa is preparing to open a City-owned parking lot for temporary use to provide safer social-distancing space for unsheltered individuals amid the coronavirus pandemic. A section of the parking lot at Finley Community Center located at 2060 W. College Ave, will serve as the managed site and will include up to 70 tents, with each tent accommodating an individual or couple. The 24,600 square foot parking lot space to be utilized is located between the Person Senior Wing building and the Finley tennis courts. [Read more]
COVID-19 Webinar Recording Now Available May 12, 2020
Webinar presented by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness: Operating Isolation and Quarantine Facilities and Providing Medical, Behavioral Health, and Substance Use Treatment: Lessons Learned from King County. [Read more]
New Resource: The COVID-19 Online Learning Series Starts May 11, 2020
National Alliance to End Homelessness and National Health Care for the Homeless Council have developed the COVID-19 Online Learning Series.This online course curriculum is designed to provide training and materials to aid in community responses to COVID-19 among people experiencing homelessness, and can support broader CoC homeless response.
The COVID-19 Online Learning Series courses are available free of charge for the first 2,500 users, courtesy of the Kaiser Permanente National Community Benefit Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation. Once 2,500 spaces have been filled, these courses will remain available at a fee. [Read more]
Homeless System Response: Changes to Coordinated Entry
Prioritization to Support and Respond to COVID-19 – May 7, 2020
As Continuums of Care (CoCs) across the country respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, many are asking about the role of Coordinated Entry (CE) in their response efforts. HUD strongly encourages CoCs to contact local public health departments, Healthcare for the Homeless agencies, and other local health partners to ensure the unique needs and opportunities related to the homeless service system are incorporated. CoCs can take steps now to implement community changes to further protect and prioritize families and individuals experiencing homelessness. Coordinated Entry remains a requirement for CoC and ESG projects and can be used to meet urgent housing needs associated with COVID-19 risk factors. [Read more]
- Changes to Coordinated Entry Prioritization to support and respond to COVID-19
- What populations need to be prioritized for permanent housing due to COVID-19?
Housing Now! 2020 Podcast launched – March 2, 2020
In this inaugural episode, Paul Boden from the Western Regional Advocacy Project and Savina Martin from the Committee to Reestablish the National Union of the Homeless described the ground work of ending homelessness in the experience of those most impacted. With their powerful advocacy voices, Paul and Savina challenge us to understand the structural causes of homelessness and the importance of elevating the voice of those with lived experience. [Listen]
Outsiders – A Podcast by KNKX and the Seattle Times’ Project Homeless
Homelessness on the West Coast is rising to crisis levels at a time of historic economic growth and prosperity. Why?
KNKX Public Radio and The Seattle Times’ Project Homeless spent one year in a city that’s grappling with homelessness. What’s it like to live outside for months on end? What’s it like when tents come to your neighborhood? What new solutions can city leaders find?
Listen to Outsiders podcast, or subscribe on your favorite podcast app. New episodes drop every Wednesday. [Learn more]
NEWS ARCHIVE
This is a collection of local, regional, national, and international news and media reports on homelessness in the form of an Excel spreadsheet which can view it on your browser, searchable, sortable, with clickable hyperlinks, and downloadable. It is being updated continuously. Please check back often. Click here.