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Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a 16-Month Contract with Building Futures with Women and Children, in an Amount Not to Exceed $106,000, to Operate the Alameda Winter Warming Shelter During Fiscal Years 2019-20 and 2020-21. (Community Development 267)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff is recommending that the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with Building Futures with Women and Children (BFWC) to operate the Alameda Warming Shelter at Christ Episcopal Church for two winter seasons from December 2019 to April 2020 and December 2020 to March 2021. The Warming Shelter is part of the group of projects adopted by the City Council on July 16, 2019, for the use of the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funds. In 2018, the State allocated the City of Alameda (City) $756,524 in HEAP funds to address its most pressing homeless challenges and support service needs.
BACKGROUND
Senate Bill (SB) 850 established HEAP in 2018, a $500 million block grant to provide immediate emergency assistance to people experiencing homelessness in California. Funds are allocated by formula to counties and to large cities with populations over 330,000. The City has been allocated $756,524 in HEAP funds, which must be fully spent by June 30, 2021.
On January 15, 2019, the City Council authorized staff to work with the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) to finalize the HEAP allocation plan and oversee implementation of projects. SSHRB established the HEAP Ad Hoc Committee for this purpose at its March 28, 2019 meeting. After a series of planning meetings that included investigation of best practices in other communities, the HEAP Ad Hoc Committee developed a final list of projects and spending plan, which was adopted by the City Council at its July 16, 2019 meeting. One of the projects listed on this plan is the winter Warming Shelter.
The latest Point-In-Time count, taken on January 30, 2019, shows a 13% increase in the City’s unhoused residents from 204 to 231 over a two-year period. While 99 people were in a shelter at the time of the count, 132 individuals were living in tents, vehicles, encampments, sidewalks, tunnel entrances, and other locations on the island considered unfit for human habitation. Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan secured county funding to help launch the City’s first warming shelter last winter. Christ Episcopal Church provided a warm, safe, and welcoming place for Alameda’s unhoused residents to take refuge when the temperature dipped below 40 degrees or when a 50% chance of rain was predicted. BFWC operated the shelter, backed by a number of volunteers who cooked and served meals at a moment’s notice based on weather forecast. This past winter, BFWC operated 66 shelter days from December 6, 2018 to April 15, 2019, and served 89 unduplicated people.
DISCUSSION
The availability of HEAP funds will allow the City to shelter its unhoused residents from the elements of the winter weather for the next two seasons. BFWC will once again provide administrative and operational support to run the Warming Shelter at Christ Episcopal Church. Volunteers from various faith organizations in the City are gearing up to support the shelter by providing meals and other support. Alameda County will partially fund the Warming Shelter for another year for the 2019-2020 winter season in the amount of $50,000. The County funds in combination with HEAP funds will allow BFWC to keep the shelter open on more days this winter.
This winter, the Warming Shelter will be open from December 2, 2019 through April 15, 2020, every Monday and Thursday and on days when the temperature is predicted to dip below 40 degrees or there is a 50% chance of rain. The Warming Shelter provides an opportunity for people experiencing homelessness to get connected to services, with the goal of eventually placing them into permanent supportive housing. BFWC’s case management staff will be available onsite to assess and enroll individuals in the Coordinated Entry System. The shelter will open again in the winter of 2020-2021.
ALTERNATIVES
• Authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with BFWC to be funded by the HEAP grant to implement Alameda’s Warming Shelter for the next two winter seasons.
• Decline to contract with BFWC to operate the winter Warming Shelter for the next two seasons.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The Warming Shelter contract with BFWC will be funded through HEAP. There is no impact on the City’s General Fund.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
This action is consistent with the SSHRB Charter and Ordinance authority “to improve social services in the community” (Alameda Municipal Code Section 2-11.5) and the Report on Homelessness Policies and Programs.
CLIMATE IMPACTS
The Social Vulnerability Assessment section of the draft 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.”
The HEAP funding will help some of the most vulnerable in our community with the consequences of climate change. The Warming Shelter offers emergency shelter during inclement weather.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15601(b)(3).
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the City Manager to execute a 16-month contract with Building Futures with Women and Children, in an amount not to exceed , $106,000, to operate the Alameda Winter Warming Shelter during Fiscal Years 2019-20 and 2020-21.
CITY MANAGER RECOMMENDATION
The City Manager recommends authorizing the execution of a 16 month contract with Building Futures with Women and Children in an amount of $106,000.
Respectfully Submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By:
Ana Bagtas, Community Development Analyst
Financial impact section reviewed,
By: Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Contract
cc: Eric Levitt, City Manager