Town has no say over county plans
In a surprise move, the county will be leasing the Holiday Inn on Old Redwood Highway in Windsor as a temporary homeless shelter.
“I can confirm that the county has informed the town that it will be entering into a temporary lease for use of the Holiday Inn to house unsheltered individuals 65 years or older who are at risk of COVID exposure,” said Town Manager Ken MacNab on May 11. “Town staff first learned of the details at the end of the day last Thursday (May 6). We are closed on Friday and yesterday we drafted a press release that will go out later today along with social media posts and an FAQ document.”
The hotel will be turned into a “Temporary Non-Congregate Shelter Site,” (NCS)which is a shelter site that offers temporary shelter to unsheltered individuals who have not been diagnosed with coronavirus, but are considered at high-risk of serious complications should they contract the virus, according to MacNab.
“Use of the hotel by the county of Sonoma as a temporary shelter site is considered a county government use and as such is exempted from local land use controls pursuant to California Government Code Section 53091,” the town said in the FAQ. “Further, the town is not party to the agreements between the county and the property owner or the county and the services management consultant. The county has shared example agreements with DEMA for management of non-congregate shelter sites with town staff that appear to address interests such as 24/7 on-site staff and security, on-site provision of services, and transportation.”
The Holiday Inn temporary shelter site is expected to open before the end of May and provide services through the end of 2021, according to MacNab.
The site can accommodate up to 90 eligible individuals, and only those individuals who are unsheltered and who are over the age of 65 and/or have underlying medical conditions meet the criteria for placement at non-congregate site locations.
According to the town, the initial set of people being housed there will be up to 60 individuals from the Alliance Redwoods non-congregate site in west Sonoma County. They will be transferred to the Holiday Inn site because the Alliance site is closing. After that, placement of individuals at the Holiday Inn site will either be by transfer from other non-congregate sites or by referral through organizations that work directly with the homeless and other high-risk populations and outreach teams from the county and cities.
According to Supervisor James Gore, whose district includes Windsor and who voted in favor of the NCS, the owners of the Holiday Inn had put forward their property last year at the start of the pandemic when the county was looking for places to house at-risk individuals. Initially, the place was not chosen, but when one of the facilities selected, Alliance Redwoods in west county, informed the county it would need its facility back by the end of May, staff reached back out to the owners who were still interested in working with the county.
Gore stressed that the people who will be housed at the Holiday Inn are the most vulnerable and medically fragile, and that their management contract with DEMA is full service and requires certain compliance from those being sheltered.
“Every opportunity comes with conditions and management,” Gore said. “In speaking to (Supervisor Lynda) Hopkins and site managers at Redwood Alliance, the biggest complaint, the only true germane complaint, was about the sounds of ambulances for people having medical issues because it is such a highly vulnerable population.”
He said that this particular NCS is being paid for by COVID relief dollars, and is strictly related to COVID, therefor it is not at present viewed as a long-term facility.
“This contract is a COVID-related, NCS -focused contract,” Gore said. “We have not programmed those dollars going forward. I do not know what this property owners intent is, but I also can’t say this site won’t be offered for something long-term. We’ve had many property owners come to us sell us property for Project Homekey. I don’t see this as a long-term shelter site, but I don’t know what it will be after December, that is a decision of the property owners.
“However, for residents throughout the county, we need you to lean in with us on solutions to this problem,” he continued. “We cannot pack people in to buses and ship people out of county, and the jail population is already 40% homeless.”
According to the FAQ, “in general, people who live unsheltered or are unstably housed have more health conditions than those with homes. Non-Congregate sites shelter individuals experiencing homelessness who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, including those over the age of 65 and/or have underlying medical conditions. Individuals in these risk categories can experience more serious complications from COVID-19 than other members of the community.”
Services provided to the subjects staying at the Holiday Inn will include: 24/7 on-site care and security; regular testing for COVID-19; housing navigation, which helps move people into permanent housing, medical and behavioral health services; prepared meals and laundry services; and transportation by van and public transportation for those who receive a pass to leave for essential activities, such as a job or medical appointments
According to the town, shelter services at the Holiday Inn site will be provided by DEMA Consulting & Management (http://www.demacm.com/) under contract with the county of Sonoma. DEMA is experienced in providing shelter, meals, medical and other services to the county’s vulnerable homeless populations, providing services to similar shelter sites located at the Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg, the Astro Motel and Azura Hotel in Santa Rosa and the Sebastopol Inn in Sebastopol.
DEMA Consulting and Management will provide 24-hour contact information to resolve immediate fire, life safety and security concerns. On-site managers at the Holiday Inn site can be reached by calling 707-326-3064.
The Times conversation with county supervisor James Gore was far ranging on the topic of the homeless challenges in the county. Check back for a longer article about the full scope of that conversation later today.
