San Joaquin County Homelessness Digest

A former Best Western motel has reopened in downtown Sacramento after being converted into permanent housing for nearly 100 unhoused individuals.

Details of the homeless navigation center, for which Manteca has secured $20.4 million to build, are included in an environmental assessment for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Ripon City Council approved an amendment to the recreational vehicle parking ordinance.

With the opening of 37 new rooms at Tracy’s Temporary Emergency Housing Facility, the city has cleared El Pescadero Park of the final tents that made up a homeless encampment at the park.

The year rang in with rains so heavy that Stockton flooded, and ended with state approval of a Delta Tunnel that may deplete our region’s water. In between was a year as remarkable for what didn’t happen as what did.

María Vela’s family has lived in East L.A. nearly 30 years, but new owners of her duplex asked her family to vacate by Christmas. Most evictions are due to nonpayment of rent, but owner move-ins also cause family displacement.

In an effort to deter unsightly vehicles from being left in front of businesses, the city will begin requiring overnight parking permits along North Sacramento Street.

Federal funding for domestic violence shelters and housing programs is declining. Advocates want the state to step in, but with a record projected deficit new spending is unlikely.

All but two California counties are delaying their implementation of a new law that makes it easier for a court to place someone in involuntary confinement if they can’t care for their own medical needs or personal safety.

Federal judge David O. Carter has declined to dismiss a lawsuit that could force the Veterans Administration to house veterans experiencing homelessness in the Los Angeles area. Carter’s 41-page ruling could pave the way for a trial in mid-2024.

Sacramento County’s second tiny home village, or Safe Stay Community, is set to welcome unhoused residents to South Sacramento starting next week.

Advocates for Sacramento’s unhoused community, along with mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer, condemned County District Attorney Thien Ho for what they described as his unfair attacks on the city and its unhoused residents.

Organizers of Sacramento County’s next Point-In-Time Count say they need at least 500 volunteers to help survey the region’s homeless population in January. Survey results are used to determine state and federal funding for homeless services.

Creating the committee was one of nine recommendations put forward by Health Care Services Agency Director Greg Diederich and United Way of San Joaquin County President/CEO Kristen Birtwhistle at the board’s Nov. 28 meeting.

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho is adding environmental violations to his lawsuit against the city of Sacramento over what he calls its failure to act regarding the homelessness crisis.

San Diego-area nonprofits and faith organizations struggle to provide for tens of thousands of migrants border agents have released on San Diego streets.

An attempt by the San Joaquin County Health Care Services Agency to form a Housing and Homelessness Services Division was shut down—at least for now—by members of the county’s Board of Supervisors.

Officials say they’ll consider applying for some of the $300 million in homeless encampment funds made available this week by Governor Gavin Newsom.
But the program by itself won’t pay cities and counties to remove the vast tent communities that line streets and sidewalks across California.

Composed of nurses and case managers, CareLink offers medical and social services to unhoused patients. Here’s how they’re making an impact.

Berkeley public works staff and police officers began closing the longstanding encampment along Seventh and Eighth streets in an “imminent health hazard and emergency abatement,” which was ordered to tackle safety concerns.

California’s population of homeless veterans has plateaued despite billions of dollars in state spending to create housing for former service members. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shift resources to focus on veterans with serious mental health conditions.

Despite protests of some two dozen residents, the Salvation Army will still be operating Lodi’s permanent access center once it is complete.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

The showers and restrooms are for Phase 4 of the Temporary Emergency Housing Facility on 370 W. Arbor Avenue until the construction of permanent facilities is completed.

One of the oldest organizations dedicated to helping people in need has been recommended to run Tracy’s homeless shelter for at least the next year.

St. Mary’s Dining Room is set to receive nearly $11 million from the city of Stockton and San Joaquin County to help run the former Stockton Shelter for the Homeless, which transferred its operations over to St. Mary’s earlier this month.

The city of Lodi hopes to break ground on the access center, located at 712 N. Sacramento St., sometime in the spring when there is optimal weather for construction.

After a second round of construction bids, the Tracy City Council has rejected all bids for its main homeless shelter structure on Arbor Avenue, setting the project back to where it was nearly a year ago.

San Joaquin County Public Health Services placed three vending machines throughout Stockton, filled up with COVID-19 rapid testing kits, KN-95 masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfecting wipes.

Board members from the Stockton Shelter for the Homeless, a nonprofit that was close to shutting down in August, were recognized at a San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants counties to spend some revenue from California’s so-called “millionaire’s tax” on the state’s homeless crisis. That alarms advocates for programs that are getting that money today.

A cabin-like home that closes and locks. Showers and restrooms onsite. Air-conditioning to survive the summer heat. These are some of the amenities at the county’s first “Safe Stay Community.”