Advocating For The Homeless As ONE CITY

The discussion on the issue of homelessness increased significantly after The Great Recession in 2009. Soon after, a 10 Year Plan To End Homelessness in San Joaquin County was researched and drafted. Fast-forward to 2015, the newly formed SJC Homelessness Task Force drafts a 10 Year Plan To End Homelessness Update. In 2016, not only was there conversations regarding the creation of tent cities, there was also a Grand Jury Report on homelessness released, followed by a second Grand Jury Report in 2019. The city drafted a response to the grand jury report, and the Stockton City Council authorized the creation of a homelesss action plan and created a affordable housing task force that submitted a presentation to the council in the Spring and Fall of 2019. Soon after, the(former SJC Homelessness Task Force, now known as) San Joaquin Continuum Of Care (SJCCoC) scheduled a public presentation with an update of their efforts. Some of those efforts included researching and visiting New York City's DOE Fund before establishing the Ready To Work program, and drafting a report after a visit to a San Francisco area navigation center in the Mission District to pursue construction of Stockton navigation centers once 2020's Strategic Plan was completed. The federal government also published a homelessness plan in 2020. In recent months however, there have been only incremental advances in the areas of affordable housing, transitional housing, emergency housing, accessory dwelling units, tiny houses and other strategies. Add to that a brief series of meetings held by the State & Central Valley Regional Water Boards, discussions of updating city zoning, permitting, zoning, and the release of the 2020 San Joaquin County Affordable Housing Needs Report, there still has yet to be any quantifiable impact, outcome or progress in regards to a significant return on the millions of dollars in funds invested. Prime example being the state-owned properties around freeways, railways and waterways that are still populated by tents and other manner of makeshift housings. Now in 2021, Stockton is revisiting it's efforts with the fresh eyes of a new city mayor advocating for navigation centers in addition to his proposed homeless policy, and a county board chair doing the same for emergency shelters. After years of efforts and millions of dollars spent, there is no public record of accounting for monies spent up-to-now and the results in the lives of the homeless in Stockton. A statewide audit of the Continuum Of Cares in California complete with audit highlights was released on February 11th. An initial $2 million investment on the first navigation center for the campus of Stockton Shelter For The Homeless on the council agenda scheduled for review on February 23rd. On the following day the 24th, "2x2x2" members of the city, the county and their staff met in person(safely) to initiate the process of using the OGSP® Tool to craft a new joint integrated homelessness/housing action plan conceptual model scheduled to be completed by early May. With a Stockton General Plan, a Stockton Strategic Plan, the missing ingredients essential for any plan to end homelessness...are the Chair and City Staff on the CoC Board providing quarterly updates on the progress of the annual implementation of its strategic plan including a proposal for a navigation center that meets the stipulations articulated and defined in that same plan, the city and county taking the lead on the plan when it comes to transparency, accountability and answerability to citizens...and your voice. As a matter of outreach to that end, the mayor has recruited and assembled the Stockton Homeless Advocacy Alliance Council. This group is made up of citizen advocates, who have been working directly with the homeless population independently of government to institute creative solutions to end homelessness. On June 8th, the Stockton City Manager presents to San Joaquin County Supervisors the result of the OGSP tool process via a draft of the Homeless/Housing One Page Strategic Plan. The one page strategic plan was part of the Stockton Homeless/Housing Analysis presented to citizens while inviting their feedback during a study session on June 28th. After hearing local organizations and advocates suggest programs for the city to consider adopting, homeless individuals shared stories as to how homelessness is impacting their lives in real-time. The mayor received nearly 700 responses to an online survey that he conducted right before the feedback session. The mayor's staff invested the preceding months drafting two actionable plans involving existing available properties. On July 13th, a presentation on an actual Low Barrier Navigation Center that would house up to 300 individuals in the Stockton Center (up to 714 individuals throughout the county when you include the Centers in Lodi, Manteca and Tracy) was presented to the County Board of Supervisors. The cost for the four shelters in the four cities was estimated at $6.5 million. Even though the mayor of Stockton, a homeless advocate who has served in the capcities of Behavioral Health, Housing, the DA's office and (3 subcommittees on) the SJCoC along with the DA all made passionate pleas for the allocation. The divided board of supervisors voted against the four shelter system. By the next meeting, the supervisors disbanded the 2x2x2 collaboration that produced the reject navigation center project and voted to grant $3.6 million just to the city of Tracy for their shelter in accordance with their city's strategic plan. On September 14th, the promise by the mayor of Stockton to allocate $12 million of the American Rescue Plan funding to low-barrier(allowing for partners, pets and possessions for each of the) homeless shelter beds will be put to the test. As Sacramento prepares to open the second in their series of Navigation Centers on September 27th, Stockton City Manager has requested that the City Council forfeit their responsibility to enact the will of voters to him, drafting a plan that would bring down the $12 million designation promised by the mayor from the total $78 million figure down to $5 million, continuing a fiscal strategy of always diverting homelessness funds to the housing infrasructure that continues to fall short in meeting the needs of the homeless. To see where you belong and what you can contribute to the efforts to end homelessness, contact your County Supervisors, City Council and/or the Mayor's office so that your elected officials can be empowered by your feedback above all else so that this effort will once and for all...advocate for the homeless as ONE CITY.

Benjamin