Title
Recommendation to Authorize the Interim City Manager to Execute an Agreement with Ruby’s Place dba Restorative Pathways in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $700,000 to Operate the Emergency Supportive Housing Program for the Term February 15, 2026 through February 28, 2027, with the Option of Four One-Year Extensions, for a Total Five Year Amount Not-to Exceed $3,500,000.
This project is statutorily exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.10 (services for people experiencing homelessness), and categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense). (City Manager 10021833)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Adam W. Politzer, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ruby’s Place dba Restorative Pathways (Restorative Pathways) was selected through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process to operate existing homeless shelter and supportive services programs. This proposed agreement would ensure the continued operation of the Emergency Supportive Housing (ESH) to provide supportive housing for individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Alameda.
Staff recommends approval of a five-year agreement with Restorative Pathways in an annual amount of $700,000 and a five year not-to-exceed amount of $3,500,000 to operate the Emergency Supportive Housing Program. The Restorative Pathways agreement will support service continuity, program stability, and effective delivery of homelessness response services while maintaining administrative efficiency.
BACKGROUND
On October 5, 2021, City Council approved The Road Home: A Five-Year Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda (“The Road Home”), establishing homelessness as a City of Alameda (City) priority and outlining a comprehensive strategy to prevent and respond to homelessness in Alameda. The Road Home reflects City Council’s recognition of the need for a coordinated, compassionate, and effective local response to homelessness.
The Emergency Supportive Housing (ESH) program directly advances Goal 2 of The Road Home by increasing access to the City’s homeless emergency response system through the provision of low-barrier, temporary housing with a focus on transition to permanent housing. Alameda’s ESH program consists of four homes providing a total of 24 beds for families and single adults. Families are sheltered in a single-family home, while single adults are provided private or shared rooms in homes designated for adults. ESH offers a safe, clean, and semi-private environment for individuals and families who were previously unhoused, coupled with wraparound supportive services designed to help participants secure and sustain permanent housing.
In Fall 2025, the Housing and Human Services Division (HHS) conducted a comprehensive Request for Proposals (RFP) process to identify service providers for both the Emergency Supportive Housing (ESH) program and the Day Center/Safe Parking program. Written proposals were reviewed by City staff and staff from partner agencies, including the Cities of Hayward, Berkeley, and Oakland. The three highest-rated organizations were Village of Love, Urban Alchemy, and Restorative Pathways.
In November 2025, City staff, along with representatives from Alameda Family Services, the Building Futures Mid-County Housing Resource Center, and the Everyone Home Continuum of Care, conducted interviews with the three top-ranked organizations.
DISCUSSION
The four ESH homes play a critical role in ensuring that individuals and families who would otherwise be living on Alameda’s streets have access to shelter and supportive services. Participants receive individualized needs assessments and support services, including financial education, mental and physical health services, substance use disorder support, workforce training, and other resources necessary to achieve housing stability. Since the program’s inception, thirty-two ESH participants have successfully exited to permanent housing, demonstrating ESH’s importance within the City’s local continuum of care.
Based on the results of the RFP process, staff and evaluators determined that Restorative Pathways would best meet the City’s service delivery goals. Restorative Pathways brings over 50 years of experience supporting vulnerable and unhoused individuals and families. Restorative Pathways has been providing shelter services since 1972 and manages locations around the Bay Area with a holistic, client center and trauma informed approach.
The City Manager’s Office, Housing and Human Services Division recommends Restorative Pathways to operate the Emergency Supportive Housing program, which will support continuity of services while strengthening the City’s homelessness response system.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with Restorative Pathways to provide shelter and services at the City’s Emergency Supportive Housing program.
• Not authorize the new agreement. The Emergency Support Housing would then be without a provider since the existing agreement is expiring. This would leave program participants to transition back to the streets.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
This agreement extension does not require an additional allocation of funds because sufficient funding is available in the existing allocated budget. These programs are funded through a one-time American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation approved by City Council on November 16, 2021 and budgeted general funds. The federal government requires that all ARPA funds be fully expended by December 31, 2026. Therefore, ARPA funds will be distributed among both shelters and expended first.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the Social Services Human Relations Board Charter and Ordinance authority “to improve social services in the community” (Alameda Municipal Code § 2-11.5) and the Report on Homelessness Policies and Programs.
This action is consistent with Goal 2 of “The Road Home: A Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda.”
This program supports the City Strategic Plan Priority to House all Alamedans and End Homelessness, specifically Project HH2b to Implement the Homelessness Strategic Plan including providing the Emergency Supportive Housing.
This action is subject to the Levine Act.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action does not constitute a “project” as defined in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 and therefore no further CEQA analysis is required.
On a separate and independent basis, this project is statutorily exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.10 (services for people experiencing homelessness), and categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense).
CLIMATE IMPACT
The Social Vulnerability Assessment section of the Climate Action and Resiliency Plan states: “adaptation strategies should consider how [the homeless] will receive emergency communications and how they will be sheltered. Proper, safe housing for all is an adaptation and resilience strategy. Planning strategies should always consider these vulnerable populations in adaptation efforts.”
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Interim City Manager to execute an agreement with Ruby’s Place dba Restorative Pathways in an amount not-to-exceed $700,000 to operate the Emergency Supportive Housing Program for the term February 15, 2026 through February 28, 2027, with the option of four one-year extensions, for a total five year amount not-to exceed $3,500,000. This project is statutorily exempt from further environmental review pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.10 (services for people experiencing homelessness), and categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense).
Respectfully submitted,
Amy Wooldridge, Assistant City Manager
By,
C’Mone Falls, Housing and Human Services Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibit:
1. Agreement - Ruby’s Place dba Restorative Pathways