*****UPDATE 10/30/2016: The Tribune ran a column in the Opinion Section on 10/30/2016 which you can read by clicking here. They are promoting the new homeless services center (HSC), and asking for the final donations needed to bring it into fruition. The foundation needs the final $250,000 in donations to build the center, which could be completed as soon as October 2017 (doubtful). To donate, go to www.40prado.org/donate-now. The center should be called an "Emergency" (i.e., short term) Shelter, because it only houses 100 of our 2,000 homeless in the county. The only more permanent shelter after the HSC is the "50 Now" program.
Above: Image from the above Tribune article, which I "borrowed" from them - I hope they don't mind!
The emperor has no clothes: we don't have any ability to help more than a handful of our many homeless in the most meaningful way possible: providing them shelter (permanent or semi-permanent). We have to do better than this, people! Step up! If you have a home, a bed, and food, then help those who do not! Set your pre-conceived notions of the homeless aside and help a fellow human being. Please! Peace.
Also, the various programs in place around the county to "help" the chronically homeless simply are not effective, likely due to insufficient resources. Occasionally I refer a homeless person to these services, but for a variety of reasons, they are unable to help them, even though they desperately want help. Unless I follow up with these non-profits and government agencies, I never hear back from them. When I do follow up, they report that they were unable to help that person, leaving them to walk the streets and live in our creek beds and hidden homeless camps.
50 Now Update: A few days ago, the Tribune also ran an article discussing our local "Housing First" program, named "50 Now", which you can read by clicking here. The name comes from a survey to determine which homeless is most likely to die the soonest, and puts the "Lucky 50" into housing, independent of their disqualifications for "traditional emergency sheltering". Actually, 50 Now should really be called the "Lucky 50" program!
These include mental illness and addiction. I support this program, but continue to have issues with it's cost per homeless person. The program costs around $1,800,000 for 3 years and houses 50 formerly homeless folks. Unfortunately, we have about 2,000 or so (nobody knows for sure) homeless who would love a crack at getting into "50 Now" but just aren't messed up enough to qualify. Sad.
*****UPDATE 6/12/2015: The Tribune ran a comprehensive update on the new SLO Homeless Center being built, and it's current fundraising status, lead by the "Homeless Foundation". You can read the article, entitled "Millions raised for homeless shelter" by clicking here. As I have stated before, I am in favor of building this new facility, but just barely. My objections are listed below in this article. I wanted to make a few comments on the Tribune article below.
Highlights of the above article, for those too lazy to click the above link (my comments in parenthesis):
• $2.5 Million has been raised ($1.3 mil. in private donations, and $1.2 mil. from government), with $2 mil. more needed
• Construction may start in early 2016 (I doubt it, but hope so)
• May be operational in 2017 (no later than 2018) with 100 beds, plus 50 more possible
• Address of the facility is 40 Prado Road - you should drive by and see where it'll be located
• John Spatafore is president of the fundraising arm, the "Homeless Foundation"
• The new facility will replace the existing Maxine Lewis shelter (located on Broad and Orcutt). Assumedly, it will also replace the Prado Day Center, though the article was silent on that as well.
• Assumedly, it will also replace the homeless shelter overflow, which on average provides about 35 beds per night, though the article is silent on this subject
• Total cost estimated at $4.5 million, though "it could be lower" (I doubt it)
• Major donors were listed in the article - my thanks for those who contributed the big bucks
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served there
• The best feature of the facility is that all homeless services will be under one roof: Case management, mental health services, drug and alcohol services (silence continues on whether they will continue with the CAPSLO policy of "zero tolerance" implemented in 2014 that turns away those who are intoxicated on alcohol or drugs)
This was a nice article, updating us on the construction and fundraising status of the project, as well as identifying the major donors so they can get their applause from me and others who support such causes.
My major objection remains that when one builds a "Taj Mahal" to the homeless such as this, it fails to put a dent in homelessness. Many say that this approach institutionalizes homelessness and I tend to agree with that belief, though I could still be persuaded otherwise.
I am far more interested in going with the "housing first" model, which is gaining popularity here and across the nation. A critical aspect of the "housing first" model is that there is an adequate supply "affordable housing" (low income) in the area. That is not, of course, the case here in SLO. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be will not allow affordable housing that is absent now to be built in the future, largely because they are politicians and want to get re-elected, as well as the fact that they cannot stand up to NIMBY-ism and do what's right for the entire community, not just the voting public. The homeless don't vote, are largely seen as a nuisance, and don't have any political pull.
Market-driven affordable green micro-housing has gained popularity in scattered pockets across the western US. Micro-housing is general described as housing units in the 120 - 200 square foot range. Creation of affordable micro-housing has been shown to be more likely to succeed in more progressive towns and cities. It is popular not only with the low income and homeless, but also with millennials seeking a material-free and clutter-free lifestyle, as well as retirees looking to live a simpler life.
*****12/12/2014: Overall, I am pleased that a new "Homeless Center" will be built in SLO. However, I do have concerns that I will briefly raise here. Though I am an advocate for the homeless, I am also an advocate for frugal government spending at all levels.
Why do I say this? Because a building of this design and unnecessary complexity burns additional dollars that could otherwise be used to fund operations. Yes, I know, that's not how it works. I function largely in private enterprise, where money is fungible. In the government, quasi-government and non-profit world, that is often not the case; that is, fund A must be used for "A-type things" and fund B only for "B-type" things, and A and B fund usage cannot be mixed (or something like that - you get the idea).
Here goes: I am concerned that the Homeless Center in SLO may be too expensive to build (as designed), including possible cost overruns, and that it may not leave sufficient funds for operations and services. I am concerned that the public will see this as being a more luxurious, expansive, and "over-the-top" campus compared to other city facilities that they use, such as the public library and city meeting rooms. Public opinion, including those coming from it's business neighbors, may (once again) be overwhelmingly against it and either curtail, diminish or delay the services provided.
To me, it looks more like a vacation retreat than an efficient operational facility. Heck, from what I can see, I'd like to live there too, or at least spend some time hanging out. From the images accompanying this article, the Homeless Center appears to be more like something Google or Hulu would build in Silicon Valley, rather than a frugal small-town local government. Also, I fear that many existing volunteers could be lost, as low-paid staff take over operations and crowds out the currently necessary volunteers. As these types of projects go, who knows how many years before it is built (if ever)? Who knows if it will receive the funding it needs to operate properly and "keep the lights on"?
Only time will tell. The answers to many of my questions will have to wait. It gives me an uneasy feeling that somehow, someway, the homeless will get the short end of the stick, as they currently do, and always have done. Ditto for the dedicated but mostly low-paid CAPSLO employees.
Think I'm wrong? According to our Federal Government rankings, SLO county is the 3rd worst small county in the entire country for housing our homeless, which you can read about by clicking here. Note that I do not believe that we are 3rd worst, but apparently somebody does. Anyways, I hope am wrong, and I hope the Homeless Center is built in a quick and efficient manner, and receives public support. I've just seen too many quasi-government (i.e., GSE - Government-Supported Entity) projects like this one "go south".
Best of luck, and hope the project succeeds. Again, I am in favor of this project, even if I would have envisioned it differently. In the meantime, I'll keep putting in my time and money helping our local homeless and low income citizens.
*****12/7/2014: There was a new article on the proposed "Homeless Services Center" to be located in San Luis Obispo (SLO) by Annmarie Cornejo. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
Click to Enlarge All Artist Views and Drawings Found Below. Note that all images below are by the architects of the project: Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio + garcia architecture + design. Note that I found the "newly unveiled" project plans online. You can read about it, and see both drawings and artist views of it by clicking here.
For those with better things to do than read this article, I will summarize it for you here:
- New Homeless Services Center planned in SLO
- Location: 40 Prado Road, SLO
- Plans were unveiled on Weds. 12/10/2014
- City Planning Commission needs to issue a permit before building can begin
- Replaces Prado Day Center and Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter, both in SLO
- Operated by CAPSLO 24-hour per day with Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided
- Single-story, 20,000 square feet, 150 beds, kitchen, laundry, showers, lockers, offices, classroom, community multi-purpose room
- Separate dorms for men, women and families
- Main benefit (Tim's Opinion): more beds, and homeless services located together (instead of spread out around the city - like it is now)
- Parking for 80 cars and 50 bikes
- Includes the existing “overnight parking program” for RVs
- Includes case management, mental health services, and addiction services
- 24 full-time and 12 part-time employees, 6 case managers and volunteers staffing
- A minimum of 4 shelter staff during the day and 3 overnight.
- Neighborhood Relations Plan is required (all nearby businesses will be briefed and can lodge their concerns)
- Security system, video and photo-enabled, will be installed throughout facility
- After-hours confidential hotline
- 10 acre site will be shared with SLO Regional Transit Authority (RTA) - entire site purchase price $2.3 million
- CAPSLO will use 3.3 acres out of the 10 acre site
- RTA will use its 6.5 acres to park and maintain buses and house dispatch and administration departments
Things left out of the article:
- How much will it cost to build? to operate?
- What happens to the "Homeless Shelter Overflow" program and it's thousands of volunteers and massive recruiting arm?
- Will the "Warming Station" program be continued, and in what form?
- How is this not a "Taj Mahal" of homeless centers? Won't it attract homeless "visitors" from all over the western United States? This will not please some in our community, in my experience.
- Will completion cause a transition from a "barebones" Homeless Services Organization to a modern art museum, library, modern office, and oh yeah, we house the homeless too?
- Couldn't this have been built on a more affordable basis, given that it is being funded with taxpayer money?
- I previously read somewhere that they would have pet facilities for homeless clients - did that get left out or did I just miss it?
- What happens to those who will not go into or stay in Case Management? What is the profile of the homeless person that will be turned away?
- Is this funded from county-wide sources? As a practical matter, will other municipalities be transferring their homeless here?
*****6/21/2014 (OLDER POST): CAPSLO Homeless Services Center Update. The CAPSLO Homeless Services Center property just went into Escrow, which you can read about in the Tribune by Clicking Here.
The emperor has no clothes: we don't have any ability to help more than a handful of our many homeless in the most meaningful way possible: providing them shelter (permanent or semi-permanent). We have to do better than this, people! Step up! If you have a home, a bed, and food, then help those who do not! Set your pre-conceived notions of the homeless aside and help a fellow human being. Please! Peace.
Also, the various programs in place around the county to "help" the chronically homeless simply are not effective, likely due to insufficient resources. Occasionally I refer a homeless person to these services, but for a variety of reasons, they are unable to help them, even though they desperately want help. Unless I follow up with these non-profits and government agencies, I never hear back from them. When I do follow up, they report that they were unable to help that person, leaving them to walk the streets and live in our creek beds and hidden homeless camps.
50 Now Update: A few days ago, the Tribune also ran an article discussing our local "Housing First" program, named "50 Now", which you can read by clicking here. The name comes from a survey to determine which homeless is most likely to die the soonest, and puts the "Lucky 50" into housing, independent of their disqualifications for "traditional emergency sheltering". Actually, 50 Now should really be called the "Lucky 50" program!
These include mental illness and addiction. I support this program, but continue to have issues with it's cost per homeless person. The program costs around $1,800,000 for 3 years and houses 50 formerly homeless folks. Unfortunately, we have about 2,000 or so (nobody knows for sure) homeless who would love a crack at getting into "50 Now" but just aren't messed up enough to qualify. Sad.
*****UPDATE 6/12/2015: The Tribune ran a comprehensive update on the new SLO Homeless Center being built, and it's current fundraising status, lead by the "Homeless Foundation". You can read the article, entitled "Millions raised for homeless shelter" by clicking here. As I have stated before, I am in favor of building this new facility, but just barely. My objections are listed below in this article. I wanted to make a few comments on the Tribune article below.
• $2.5 Million has been raised ($1.3 mil. in private donations, and $1.2 mil. from government), with $2 mil. more needed
• Construction may start in early 2016 (I doubt it, but hope so)
• May be operational in 2017 (no later than 2018) with 100 beds, plus 50 more possible
• Address of the facility is 40 Prado Road - you should drive by and see where it'll be located
• John Spatafore is president of the fundraising arm, the "Homeless Foundation"
• The new facility will replace the existing Maxine Lewis shelter (located on Broad and Orcutt). Assumedly, it will also replace the Prado Day Center, though the article was silent on that as well.
• Assumedly, it will also replace the homeless shelter overflow, which on average provides about 35 beds per night, though the article is silent on this subject
• Total cost estimated at $4.5 million, though "it could be lower" (I doubt it)
• Major donors were listed in the article - my thanks for those who contributed the big bucks
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served there
• The best feature of the facility is that all homeless services will be under one roof: Case management, mental health services, drug and alcohol services (silence continues on whether they will continue with the CAPSLO policy of "zero tolerance" implemented in 2014 that turns away those who are intoxicated on alcohol or drugs)
This was a nice article, updating us on the construction and fundraising status of the project, as well as identifying the major donors so they can get their applause from me and others who support such causes.
My major objection remains that when one builds a "Taj Mahal" to the homeless such as this, it fails to put a dent in homelessness. Many say that this approach institutionalizes homelessness and I tend to agree with that belief, though I could still be persuaded otherwise.
I am far more interested in going with the "housing first" model, which is gaining popularity here and across the nation. A critical aspect of the "housing first" model is that there is an adequate supply "affordable housing" (low income) in the area. That is not, of course, the case here in SLO. Unfortunately, the powers-that-be will not allow affordable housing that is absent now to be built in the future, largely because they are politicians and want to get re-elected, as well as the fact that they cannot stand up to NIMBY-ism and do what's right for the entire community, not just the voting public. The homeless don't vote, are largely seen as a nuisance, and don't have any political pull.
Market-driven affordable green micro-housing has gained popularity in scattered pockets across the western US. Micro-housing is general described as housing units in the 120 - 200 square foot range. Creation of affordable micro-housing has been shown to be more likely to succeed in more progressive towns and cities. It is popular not only with the low income and homeless, but also with millennials seeking a material-free and clutter-free lifestyle, as well as retirees looking to live a simpler life.
*****12/12/2014: Overall, I am pleased that a new "Homeless Center" will be built in SLO. However, I do have concerns that I will briefly raise here. Though I am an advocate for the homeless, I am also an advocate for frugal government spending at all levels.
Why do I say this? Because a building of this design and unnecessary complexity burns additional dollars that could otherwise be used to fund operations. Yes, I know, that's not how it works. I function largely in private enterprise, where money is fungible. In the government, quasi-government and non-profit world, that is often not the case; that is, fund A must be used for "A-type things" and fund B only for "B-type" things, and A and B fund usage cannot be mixed (or something like that - you get the idea).
Here goes: I am concerned that the Homeless Center in SLO may be too expensive to build (as designed), including possible cost overruns, and that it may not leave sufficient funds for operations and services. I am concerned that the public will see this as being a more luxurious, expansive, and "over-the-top" campus compared to other city facilities that they use, such as the public library and city meeting rooms. Public opinion, including those coming from it's business neighbors, may (once again) be overwhelmingly against it and either curtail, diminish or delay the services provided.
Only time will tell. The answers to many of my questions will have to wait. It gives me an uneasy feeling that somehow, someway, the homeless will get the short end of the stick, as they currently do, and always have done. Ditto for the dedicated but mostly low-paid CAPSLO employees.
Think I'm wrong? According to our Federal Government rankings, SLO county is the 3rd worst small county in the entire country for housing our homeless, which you can read about by clicking here. Note that I do not believe that we are 3rd worst, but apparently somebody does. Anyways, I hope am wrong, and I hope the Homeless Center is built in a quick and efficient manner, and receives public support. I've just seen too many quasi-government (i.e., GSE - Government-Supported Entity) projects like this one "go south".
Best of luck, and hope the project succeeds. Again, I am in favor of this project, even if I would have envisioned it differently. In the meantime, I'll keep putting in my time and money helping our local homeless and low income citizens.
*****12/7/2014: There was a new article on the proposed "Homeless Services Center" to be located in San Luis Obispo (SLO) by Annmarie Cornejo. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
Click to Enlarge All Artist Views and Drawings Found Below. Note that all images below are by the architects of the project: Gwynne Pugh Urban Studio + garcia architecture + design. Note that I found the "newly unveiled" project plans online. You can read about it, and see both drawings and artist views of it by clicking here.
For those with better things to do than read this article, I will summarize it for you here:
- New Homeless Services Center planned in SLO
- Location: 40 Prado Road, SLO
- Plans were unveiled on Weds. 12/10/2014
- City Planning Commission needs to issue a permit before building can begin
- Replaces Prado Day Center and Maxine Lewis Memorial Shelter, both in SLO
- Operated by CAPSLO 24-hour per day with Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided
- Single-story, 20,000 square feet, 150 beds, kitchen, laundry, showers, lockers, offices, classroom, community multi-purpose room
- Separate dorms for men, women and families
- Main benefit (Tim's Opinion): more beds, and homeless services located together (instead of spread out around the city - like it is now)
- Parking for 80 cars and 50 bikes
- Includes the existing “overnight parking program” for RVs
- Includes case management, mental health services, and addiction services
- 24 full-time and 12 part-time employees, 6 case managers and volunteers staffing
- A minimum of 4 shelter staff during the day and 3 overnight.
- Neighborhood Relations Plan is required (all nearby businesses will be briefed and can lodge their concerns)
- Security system, video and photo-enabled, will be installed throughout facility
- After-hours confidential hotline
- 10 acre site will be shared with SLO Regional Transit Authority (RTA) - entire site purchase price $2.3 million
- CAPSLO will use 3.3 acres out of the 10 acre site
- RTA will use its 6.5 acres to park and maintain buses and house dispatch and administration departments
- How much will it cost to build? to operate?
- Where will the funds to build and operate come from?
- When will it actually break ground? (official answer: 2015). Who pays for the inevitable construction cost overruns?- What happens to the "Homeless Shelter Overflow" program and it's thousands of volunteers and massive recruiting arm?
- Will the "Warming Station" program be continued, and in what form?
- How is this not a "Taj Mahal" of homeless centers? Won't it attract homeless "visitors" from all over the western United States? This will not please some in our community, in my experience.
- Will completion cause a transition from a "barebones" Homeless Services Organization to a modern art museum, library, modern office, and oh yeah, we house the homeless too?
- Couldn't this have been built on a more affordable basis, given that it is being funded with taxpayer money?
- I previously read somewhere that they would have pet facilities for homeless clients - did that get left out or did I just miss it?
- What happens to those who will not go into or stay in Case Management? What is the profile of the homeless person that will be turned away?
- Is this funded from county-wide sources? As a practical matter, will other municipalities be transferring their homeless here?
(not written by Tim Waag)
ReplyDeleteRegarding the proposed "Homeless Services Project" in SLO:
Despite the rhetoric put forth by proponents of the project, it is my contention is that it will ultimately fail at achieving any meaningful reduction in the numbers of people experiencing homelessness in SLO County. In the end, my prediction is that it will be "business as usual" -- except on a larger, more expensive scale.
I say this because numerous other communities across the U.S. have used a "one-stop, homeless mega-center" approach and have failed to reduce homelessness in their areas. In reality, the only approach to reducing homelessness that has been shown to be effective -- as well as, cost efficient -- is known as "Housing First." Sadly, such a holistic approach is seldom proposed by those who are the policy makers of Homeless Support Services organizations/groups. More's the pity. . .
Sadly, the majority of folks who manage to escape homelessness in SLO County do so, not because of homeless support services, but in spite of.
Regards, M.SH