First homeless summit convenes in Merced County

First homeless summit convenes in
Merced County
Merced County falls short of its need for permanent supportive housing
‘Housing first’ method should be adopted in Merced, advocates say
Summit brings hundreds to Christian Life Center
Steve Carrigan, Merced County Continuum of Care chairman and Merced’s city manager, speaks during the county’s first
homeless summit at Christian Life Center on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
BY THADDEUS MILLER - tmiller@mercedsunstar.com
FEBRUARY 26, 2016
M
erced County’s first homeless summit, what
amounted to equal parts educational seminar,
church service and pep rally, took place Friday in
Merced.
The summit gathered homeless advocates and service
providers together with elected officials and public
employees inside an Olive Avenue church. The
Merced County Continuum of Care, a coalition of
homeless advocates and service providers, released
a report on the homeless count done in January and
heard from Fresno-based public employees who
say they’ve made inroads in reducing the homeless
population there.
Speakers at the event at the Christian Life Center
stressed that Merced needs to adopt the “housing
first” method that has been successful in other
communities. Under that method, people living on
the street are found a home before their mental health,
substance abuse or other problems are addressed.
“The data shows that permanent supportive housing
… has a lower recidivism rate than any other
approach,” said Preston Prince, CEO of the Fresno
Housing Authority. “I want to stress, housing first is
the way to go.”
Programs in Fresno provide housing for more than
18,000 people and families, according to the authority.
The homeless count in Fresno has fallen from 5,000 in
2010 to 1,200 in the latest count, according to Prince.
THE DATA SHOWS THAT PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE
HOUSING … HAS A LOWER RECIDIVISM RATE
THAN ANY OTHER APPROACH. I WANT TO STRESS,
HOUSING FIRST IS THE WAY TO GO.
Preston Prince, CEO of the Fresno Housing Authority
Those numbers dwarf the Merced County tally of
519 this year, a 42 percent drop from 899 counted
last year. Advocates said they’ve had some success in
housing people in Merced, but the dramatic drop also
reflects a new counting method.
To replicate Fresno’s falling count, Merced will look
to double its 47 permanent supportive housing beds,
according to Carol Bowman, executive director of
United Way of Merced County and a member of
Continuum’s board of directors.
“We desperately need more permanent supportive
housing units,” she said. “We are aggressively pursuing
more.”
Bowman said advocates have begun to speak with
landlords to try to warm them to the idea of renting
to people trying to get off the street.
Vanessa Alvarado-Greer speaks during Merced County’s
first homeless summit at Christian Life Center on Friday,
Feb. 26, 2016. Greer has worked to improve health care
access for homeless veterans.
Audience members listen to speakers during Merced
County’s first homeless summit at Christian Life Center on
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
Preston Prince, CEO of the Fresno Housing Authority,
speaks during Merced County’s first homeless summit at
Christian Life Center on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
Cynthia Abbott, field office director of U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development, speaks during Merced
County’s first homeless summit at Christian Life Center on
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016
An initiative launched by the White House in 2009
to end homelessness among veterans has led to
success in many parts of the country, with places
such as Houston, New Orleans and the state of Utah
declaring they’ve housed their homeless veterans.
Merced County hasn’t yet been able to claim victory,
but the 25 homeless veterans found during this year’s
census was an improvement from last year’s 88. The
tally also found no homeless people who are infected
with HIV or AIDS, while last year 26 were counted.
Steve Carrigan, right, shakes hands with Cynthia Abbott
during Merced County’s first homeless summit at Christian
Life Center on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
WE DESPERATELY NEED MORE PERMANENT
SUPPORTIVE HOUSING UNITS. WE ARE
AGGRESSIVELY PURSUING MORE.
Carol Bowman, executive director of United Way of
Merced County
About half of the county’s homeless population
is chronically homeless and has a chronic health
condition or mental health problems, or both.
A PowerPoint presentation is displayed during Merced
County’s first homeless summit at Christian Life Center on
Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
The report Friday revealed city-specific numbers
for people on the streets, not including those in
temporary housing, which amounts to 356. The city
of Merced had 218 people living on the streets, while
Los Banos had 64. Dos Palos and South Dos Palos
counted 41; Atwater and Winton tallied 28; and Le
Grand recorded five.
The tally every January breaks up homeless people
into demographics to make the goal seem less
daunting, said Joe Colletti, executive director of
Urban Initiatives, the nonprofit that contracts with
the county to organize homeless efforts.
“If we begin to break it down not only by jurisdiction
but by demographics, all of a sudden the numbers
become more manageable,” he said.
While attempting to educate the public on the work
being done in the county and thanking homeless
advocates, the summit’s speakers also tried to rally the
crowd to continue their work to end homelessness.
Cynthia Abbott, San Francisco field office director
of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development
Preston Prince, CEO of the Fresno Housing Authority, speaks
Department, praised local advocates for their
during Merced County’s first homeless summit at Christian
progress in housing veterans.
Life Center on Friday, Feb. 26, 2016.
Photos: Andrew Kuhn - akuhn@mercedsunstar.com
“(You’re) bringing us closer to that day when every
American can have a place to call home,” she said.