Title
Recommendation to Recommend Approval of The Road Home: A 5 Year Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda to City Council.
Body
To: Honorable President Sarah Lewis and Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
City Council has identified addressing homelessness as one of its key priorities. As a result, in January of 2021, work began on The Road Home: A 5 Year Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda (Strategic Plan) (Exhibit 1). In August of 2021, the Social Services Human Relations Board (SSHRB) reviewed and provided feedback on an earlier draft of the Strategic Plan. The feedback provided at that meeting, as well as comments from the Steering Committee and others, have been incorporated into the revised Strategic Plan. Tonight, staff is requesting that SSHRB recommend approval of the Strategic Plan to City Council.
BACKGROUND
From 2017 to 2019, the number of people experiencing homelessness in Alameda rose by 13%, to 231 individuals. Of these, 132 individuals were unsheltered. While this number has likely increased over the last 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors, the scale of this number presents an opportunity to make a meaningful impact on preventing and reducing homelessness in Alameda. The City Council identified addressing homelessness as one of its priorities for 2020-2021 and beyond.
In January of 2021, work began on a five-year plan to address homelessness in Alameda. The planning process is being led by Homebase, a nationally recognized expert on homelessness with extensive technical assistance and facilitation experience.
As part of the strategic planning process, Homebase has completed an assessment of existing programs and systems in Alameda and conducted extensive stakeholder engagement, including regular Steering Committee meetings, two community meetings, an online survey, and multiple focus groups and individual interviews. In spring of 2021, staff br...
Click here for full text