The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors agreed to apply for more transitional and supportive housing projects through the second round of Project Homekey funding, including George’s Hideaway near Guerneville, authorizing staff to pursue several projects at its Oct. 26 board meeting.
All staff-recommended actions and resolutions were approved, with some amendments, following a presentation by Dave Kiff, interim executive director of the county’s Community Development Commission (CDC), and Tina Rivera, interim director of the county’s Department of Health Services (DHS).
By doing so, the board approved $500,000 of Measure O monies to form a Project Homekey Cohort to provide intensive behavioral services as part of the Accessing Coordinated Care and Empowering Self Sufficiency (ACCESS) Program.
The notice of funding availability is up now and tends to award monies on a “first apply, first receive” basis, with carrots enticing early applications by January 31 2022, Kiff said. To qualify, an applicant must be an entity like a local or tribal government sponsor, but they can co-apply with another local public entity, a non-profit, or a for-profit corporation, per the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
In their motion, the supervisors directed that another meeting would be scheduled once Project Homekey funds were awarded for an update and discussion on how the county will fund services if its proposals succeed.
Projects in the works
George’s Hideaway near Guerneville heads the shortlist of projects proposed as part of the county’s Homekey application. The roadhouse is known for its history as a specimen of Rustic-style architecture from the area’s railroad tourism era and for its nosedive as a prospective permanent homeless services site for the county in 2016.
It’s 2.04 acres selling for about $849,000, capable of providing up to 30 tiny homes “or building renovation or both,” and RV parking, according to the presentation. The county would partner with West County Community Services (WCCS) on the project almost two miles southwest of Guerneville, Kiff said.
Per the summary report, George’s Hideaway could provide for 26 safe parking areas “and/or modular homes” and offer more units and support buildings with, again, “renovated existing structures at the location.”
Additionally, the county staff report mentions the county and CDC staff have considered a site at Johnson’s Beach in Guerneville that could provide interim housing.
“We’re working on a plan right now, assuming you authorize us to apply, that would involve an interim housing solution leading to a permanent supportive housing solution over the next three years. But we’d be able to house people fairly quickly,” Kiff said.
The summary report went on to explain that if the state gives the George’s Hideaway project the go-ahead, probably up to $500,000 of that funding would go toward a west county emergency shelter. Any of the county’s Project Homekey applications for round two that pass would return to the board with “a detailed plan” for the ultimate stamp of approval.
The George’s Hideaway application takes priority as the most developed proposal so far, but the board of supervisors also agreed to pursue the Redwood Inn for a project that could serve transition age youth, potentially partnering with TLC Child and Family Services in unincorporated Santa Rosa. The board seeks another Project Homekey site at an address north of Sonoma on Sonoma Highway, too, partnering with Homeless Action Sonoma.
Coming up with a funding formula
The board ventured into the Early Capital Match for Project Homekey’s second round and what’s called the “Supportive Services Funding Framework” to finance all the region’s project sites for at least seven years before things get complicated.
What appears to be a victory for homeless people and their advocates has a tight turn caveat in that the funding framework is a seven-year plan and Kiff pointed out that, “at year eight, we will start to have a shortfall or need to transition out of some of these facilities.”
All county and city projects under Project Homekey need to secure operational funding and “the framework’s focus is on reasonable dollars that don’t at this time tap into any jurisdiction’s general funds,” he said.
The funding framework clarifies that the county seeks a three-year match with the state for operational funds, meaning the state would provide some funding for three years if the county commits to four years of supporting the projects on its own, Kiff said.
That’s seven years of coverage. The funding framework presumes that the Sonoma County region will get a hold of 230 beds for formerly unsheltered people, though Kiff predicted the county would fall a little short amid competition all over California. There are 140 beds counted across submitted applications and ones in preparation.
Yet, while the state plan estimates $33 per unsheltered person and $46 per chronically homeless person a day, the interim director said locally, each person would require $80 per person, per day. That funding would likely cover laundry, staffing, security and meals, but not the intensive behavioral health services cohort Rivera discussed in the presentation.
The presentation put forward that $80 per person for an optimistic target of 230 individuals would cost $6.7 million a year.
A Project Homekey cohort for behavioral health at any site
Rivera led an overview of the Project Homekey Cohort to bring together city partners experienced in outreach and navigation and county staff with clinical and behavioral health know-how.
The health services department would organize the cohort that would reduce professional services costs at the sites, “providing these wrap-around services and supports that are so necessary to encourage and keep clients stably housed,” Rivera said.
The services would be available at any Homekey Project in the region, within city limits and unincorporated areas, Kiff said. According to Rivera, case management would link individuals up with CalFresh benefits, substance use and mental health services and transportation to appointments.
Kiff noted the Los Guilicos Village’s accomplishments in transitioning formerly unsheltered people into permanent supportive housing there.
“We would see the same thing here at George’s Hideaway while it’s in its transitional period, but when it converts into permanent supportive housing, keeping those clients permanently supported and housed,” Rivera said.
Neighbors new and old, Project Homekey then and now
Besides the county, its cities are also developing Project Homekey proposals to house unsheltered people, including Rohnert Park, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, the summary report said. Meanwhile, Healdsburg is applying for funds through Project Homekey for a 21-bed hotel in partnership with Reach for Home, geared toward providing shelter for some of north county’s homeless population.
According to Kiff, it’s likely that a third round of Project Homekey awards will be offered a year from now. Projects graced with state funding may join the two Project Homekey sites already up and running in Sonoma County for those deemed especially vulnerable to COVID-19 — the Mickey Zane Place in Santa Rosa and Elderberry Commons in Sebastopol, formerly the Hotel Azura and the Sebastopol Inn, respectively.
