The Homeless Action Partnership, a collaboration of the County of Santa Cruz, each city within the county, and local service providers working to reduce homelessness — 2,167 people in 2019 — has a new website: www.homelessactionpartnership.org. The site includes updates and new resources.
Highlights include:
The COVID-19 Homeless Response: Weekly updates from the Santa Cruz County Shelter & Care Task Force, with the goal of minimizing the spread of COVID-19.
Hotel: A 55-room hotel in Santa Cruz is the third hotel to serve people who are homeless, 65 and older or medically vulnerable; 39 percent of the county’s homeless individuals reported a disabling condition. Food, mental health and health assessment are provided. This brings to 117 the total number of hotel rooms for homeless people, funded by the state’s Project Room Key. Currently, there are no confirmed COVID-19 cases among those who are homeless.
Support: An unsupervised encampment on Coral Street in Santa Cruz has been cleaned up and become a site where18 people live and get three meals per day, hygiene services and health assessments. The new site, which passed inspection by the Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Department, is operating under COVID-19 guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and the California Public Health Department.
RVs and Cars Parking: A new overnight parking area for people living in their car, van or RV has been established through a partnership between the City of Santa Cruz and the Association of Faith Communities’ SafeSpaces program at parking lot #17 owned by the City of Santa Cruz. There is space for up to 10 vehicles. The city provides hygiene facilities, and Faith Communities provides staff as monitors.
Soquel Advisory Board: Supervisor John Leopold plans to form a community advisory board to help guide operation of a shelter at the Seventh-Day Adventist conference center on Soquel-San Jose Road in Soquel for “transition age youth” ages 18-25 aging out of foster care; 23 percent of the county’s homeless individuals reported being in foster care. The state is providing 10 trailers during the County Health Officer’s shelter-in-place order.
Up to 30 people are to live here during the first phase, including 17 young people at Simpkins Family Swim Center. The second phase, if approved, would include up to 20 more individuals for a maximum of 50. Participants would receive services to support their health and job training goals. The property will be subject to 24/7 security, a 10 p.m. curfew, and accessible only via car or shuttle bus (no walk-in or walk-outs allowed). A dozen trailers arrived May 18, with two slated to be moved to the Watsonville fairgrounds.
School Nurses: Local school nurses who have state certification are visiting shelters throughout Santa Cruz County to ensure the safety of participants and staff.
New Tool: Professional staff are collecting critical information from all shelter residents and entering the data into the Homeless Management Information System used by the Homeless Action Partnership throughout Santa Cruz County. The data helps inform policy and operation decisions, ensure accurate budgeting and supports efforts to obtain reimbursement from state and federal agencies.
- Point-in-Time Counts for Santa Cruz County: current and previous counts that every two years provide a snapshot of the homeless population. 2019: 2,167, down from 2,249 in 2017.
- State and federal funding information: Current request for proposal opportunities for homeless service providers.
- Smart Path access: Contact information for organizations conducting assessments to match housing and/or services with those in need.
- Volunteer and donate: Find volunteer opportunities and information on how to donate to service providers.
The website features stories of success by organizations such as Families in Transition, Bill Wilson Center, Pajaro Valley Shelter Services, and Housing Matters as well as individuals in their efforts to address and overcome homelessness.
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