Press release: Sacramento, CA – For over a year, Senator McGuire has been working with state agency leaders, local non-profits and city and county officials to ensure the North Coast began to receive funding for emergency homeless shelters and housing-first projects to address homelessness in Northern California. California Housing and Community Development recently announced grant awards for counties across the state via the Emergency Solutions Grant program, which supports rapid rehousing, emergency shelter, and other services to address homelessness.
“Due to an amazing amount of teamwork, the North Coast will benefit from these desperately needed homeless services funds. No Emergency Solutions Grant dollars had been invested in Mendocino, Lake or Humboldt Counties for a few years, and it took non-profit leaders and local officials working together to get the job done,” Senator McGuire said. “We are thrilled that North Coast communities who have such significant need will now see state dollars invested in homeless services and we have been grateful to partner with so many over the past several months.”
Projects throughout Northern California will receive Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program funds including emergency shelter and street outreach. Through Arcata House Partnership, three projects in Mendocino County are receiving state funds and a rapid rehousing initiative managed by North Coast Opportunities will be funded in Lake County.
This spring, Senator McGuire held a Homeless Services Summit bringing civic and non-profit leaders together to discuss strategies to address the lack of funding available for homeless services and programs. From that summit, valuable feedback helped shape state policy this year and since then, a lot has been accomplished. The Governor signed the State Senate’s $2 billion Homeless Services initiative (the No Place Like Home bill) which Senator McGuire helped lead. The initiative will build a minimum of 14,000 units across our state.
In addition, Senator McGuire fought hard along with North Coast leaders to ensure the state Emergency Solutions Grant program would benefit rural California. The 2016-17 budget has $35 million available to support rapid rehousing, emergency shelter, and other services to address homelessness throughout the state through the ESG program.
Between the Emergency Solutions Grant awards and the $2 billion No Place Like Home initiative funding which will begin to roll out in 2017, Senator McGuire believes it is a top priority to get all stakeholders together in the same room (or watching online) for an informative and accessible Town Hall later this month. At the Town Hall, representatives from the state, federal agencies and advocates and non-profits who have found successful projects and funding sources will present their ideas, findings and opportunities to address homelessness.
“Homelessness, especially the lack of resources for permanent housing, is at a crisis point across California – and our North Coast communities have been struggling to meet the need with limited resources and support,” Senator McGuire said. “While there is still an incredible amount of work to be done, we have made great strides this year by securing these critical grant dollars, as well as the $2 billion statewide that will be invested in permanent homeless housing, meaning tens of millions of dollars will flow into Northern California alone.”
Here are the Homeless Services Town Hall details:
Date: Thursday, October 27
Time: 6 – 8 pm
Location: Ukiah Valley Conference Center, 200 South School St., Ukiah, CA 95482
Save Room: Snacks and refreshments will be available
Watch live online: The hearing will be streamed live online.
This event is free and open to the public. Additional meeting details and speakers will be announced in the next week.
