The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday permitted two vital items of funding to confront the continuing difficulty of homelessness in Santa Barbara County.
The Board first allotted roughly $1.5 million in county funds to its Housing Authority for the development of a 24-unit housing mission on the nook of Freeway 101 and Patterson Avenue. The Patterson Level flats, as they’re to be referred to as, shall be reserved for previously homeless people and embrace an on-site supervisor, places of work for supportive providers, a neighborhood room, laundry and restroom services, and a non-commercial kitchen. The mission is anticipated to value $11.2 million complete, with the remainder of the funds derived from state grants.
The supervisors additionally signed a $3.1 million contract with Good Samaritan Shelter for two-and-a-half years’ value of avenue outreach to folks dwelling in encampments, particularly these erected in dry riverbeds and different waterways. Per its settlement with the county, Good Samaritan ― a extremely regarded supplier of homeless providers and shelters that was lately named California Nonprofit of the Yr ― is anticipated to make contact with roughly 250 unhoused people unfold throughout 45 campsites.
Their interactions will embrace linking folks to case managers and housing navigators, in addition to psychological well being practitioners and dependancy specialists, county employees advised the Board. The funds, sourced nearly solely from a state program aimed solely at encampments, will cowl personnel, administration, information help, and different prices. The objective is to maneuver 100 of the 250 people into shelters, and one other 100 into everlasting housing, Good Samaritan stated.
