Looking at north county homeless efforts through a Cloverdale lens

North county needs more interim and permanent supportive housing, according to a presentation given to the Cloverdale City Council this week.
During its regular meeting on Oct. 27, the council received a report on homeless needs in Cloverdale and in the broader north county. The report centered both on actions currently taking place in the county to address housing north county’s homeless population as well as Reach for Home survey data based on speaking with 17 homeless individuals in Cloverdale.
The presentation was given by Stephen Sotomayor, who serves as both the housing administrator for the City of Healdsburg and a representative of northern Sonoma County on the Continuum of Care Board of Directors.
The Continuum of Care is a regional or local planning body that coordinates funding for housing and services for homeless families and individuals.
Describing northern Sonoma County’s system of care, Sotomayor said that north county has some basic needs programs that provide things like mobile shower units (available in Cloverdale on Tuesdays at Living Water Church), meals and other essentials to homeless individuals and that there are some resources that provide rapid rehousing to people who are either recently homeless or on the verge of homelessness.
Sotomayor said, however, that this part of the county lacks interim housing and permanent supportive housing.

Breaking down data

According to data presented by Sotomayor, 76 homeless individuals in north county have been surveyed by nonprofit Reach for Home. Of those 76, 17 people in Cloverdale have been surveyed to date.
Of those surveyed, five were women and 12 were men, and all considered the area their home.
When it came to housing questions, Sotomayor said that only three stated that they don’t want help or housing; six said that they would consider safe camping, two said safe parking would help and 13 indicated that they would take either a tiny home-type dwelling or an apartment unit.
Sotomayor said that two people were OK with sobriety requirements, indicating that Wallace House might be an option for them. Eight of the individuals were ready for case management.
Of the 17 people, two said that they work regularly and five said that they are actively looking for work.
“What does this tell us? It tells us that, quite often what we see as a missing piece in northern Sonoma County … is that interim and immediate solutions could generally lead to positive outcomes,” Sotomayor said.

Applying for interim housing

To help provide interim housing for chronically homeless individuals in north county, the City of Healdsburg applied for Project Homekey funding from the state to open a 22-unit motel in south Healdsburg. The City of Healdsburg would own the property, Reach for Home would provide on-site services and Burbank Housing would provide construction management.
Vice Mayor Todd Lands said that Cloverdale has about 92 people who are technically homeless, but who mostly rely on couch surfing or similar means to keep a roof over their heads.
“Most of them, we’ve found, don’t qualify in any way for any vouchers or any help. I’ve sent and worked with Margaret (Sluyk) on a couple of test cases. We have people with simple assault charges who live on the river who want help, but can’t get it. We have people that have alcohol issues. They want help, but they can’t get it because they won’t go into a program, so they can’t get any type of housing. I have a single father who has had to give up his daughter now because he can’t get any help and he can’t have her sleeping on a couch or in a car.”
“I’m looking for answers for our population because, as the representative for Cloverdale, I don’t want to bring more people to my town and not help the ones that we currently have,” Lands continued. “I’m looking for the answers to my community, as well as yours, and I want to know how your 22 units will help us so that we can in turn help you with whatever we decide to do.”
Sotomayor said that the conversation surrounding Healsdburg’s potential interim housing site is just beginning and the first step is seeing if Healdsburg is awarded the funding it’s seeking from Project Homekey, “but if we do get 22 units, I know they can make a big difference.”
Sotomayor said that the Project Homekey application is submitted and that Healdsburg should know if it will receive the funds within 45 days.
Margaret Sluyk, executive director of Reach for Home, said that the proposed site will follow a housing first model with a low barrier of entry, meaning that it might address some of the people who haven’t been able to qualify for vouchers or other help.
“I’ll also add, because of vouchers that are being infused into the county, we’re getting people to move up out of our partnership home in Cloverdale, which will then allow more people to move in. We just need to find units for them, but they are getting their vouchers. We’re creating a system where people can come in, get help and move up, and then meanwhile, we’re tackling those high-needs individuals separately.”
Addressing the proposed Healdsburg site specifically, Sluyk said that it will be for north county and that Reach for Home will be looking at unsheltered individuals in Cloverdale to bring into the site as well.
“I think that we have a real opportunity here to make a difference and to change the course of what is status quo and start to make demonstrable changes that will help inform that we can change the course of homelessness in northern Sonoma County,” Sotomayor said.

Ongoing efforts

Locally, Cloverdale holds monthly meetings for its Cloverdale Homeless Community Advisory Group. The meetings have updates from Alexander Valley Healthcare, Wallace House and Reach for Home. Lands also gives updates, sitting on the Northern Sonoma County Homelessness Task Force, along with Cloverdale Police Chief Jason Ferguson. To view the meeting for October, go here.
On more of a regional level, a Northern Sonoma County Homelessness Task Force led by Supervisor James Gore works to address north county’s homeless population. According to Sotomayor, the group constructed a final north county homelessness draft plan in May 2021 that focuses on five strategies for ending homelessness in this part of the county.
Those strategies include:
●      Engaging community members, including residents, businesses, nonprofits, the faith community and government officials as partners in solving the homelessness crisis
●      Providing immediate, low-barrier access to emergency shelter and interim housing, as a step to permanent housing, for individuals facing a housing crisis
●      Conducting street outreach and street medicine
●      Continuing to implement coordinated entry
●      Providing homelessness prevention assistance
Speaking during public comment, Angela Cordova asked how the north county homeless plan and efforts address individuals who are either addicted to drugs or who refuse service.
Sluyk said that Reach for Home is taking high-needs individuals who need mental health support or addiction services and working with the City of Cloverdale and the Cloverdale Police Department.
“We’re trying to remove the barriers within the county to get those people into the right type of housing and care in the county,” Sluyk said. “Knowing that not everybody is going to be successful independently in housing, it’s just not going to work, so what’s the solution for them? We’re pulling together … about five or six of us on the calls … and we’re all taking each of those people, one by one, and strategizing how we can get them into the system, remove the barriers and get them the solution that should be for them.”
Councilmember Joe Palla noted that part of the conversation on homelessness should involve local legislators, encouraging Sotomayor to engage with staff from the offices of Assemblymember Jim Wood and Senator Mike McGuire.