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Springs homeless project gets big boost from Sonoma County supes

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Sonoma Valley Sun

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors awarded $400,000 to Homeless Action Sonoma to support a tiny-home village in Boyes Hot Springs.  

HAS took ownership of the property at 18820 Highway 12 in November and plans to house 22 people in 18 Quickhaven-style shelters. 

The $400,000 grant is a “enough to get us going as we look for more funding,” said Annie Falandes of HAS. “We have created a bare bones budget that is $1.2 million for all the infrastructure for the permanent facility and the winter shelter.”
Another $150k has been raised from the community, she said. “So just $700,000 more and we will be golden. For a community like Sonoma full of the Christmas spirit it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
At the Springs lot along Highway 12 and bordering Encino Avenue to the north, Homeless Action Sonoma plans for 18 tiny houses served by a temporary ADA compliant restroom trailer.

The grant was among $2 million announced Tuesday to support five projects that will provide housing and other resources for people experiencing homelessness. The other projects are in Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Guerneville and Sebastopol.

All five projects will help individuals transition from the street or encampments into safe parking or interim shelter in preparation for placement in more secure housing environments, such as permanent supportive housing and other affordable housing.

“We need to explore every creative opportunity that we have, because we continue to have a crisis on the streets of Sonoma County,” said Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “We are wholly embracing creative solutions here in Sonoma County. We are willing to take risks to get people housed.” 

The funding includes: 

  • $750,000 for a 25-unit modular housing shelter in Petaluma at 900 Hopper St. backed by the city and the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS). The City of Petaluma is proposing to assist the project with up to $1.3 million from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA).
  • $500,000 for a 50-space safe parking program in Santa Rosa at the city’s Utilities Field Office off Stony Point Road. The City of Santa Rosa intends to contribute more than $2.3 million from the city or ARPA resources to support the program for up to two years. Catholic Charities will operate the pilot program. 
  • $270,000 for 15 tiny homes at the vacant George’s Hideaway restaurant and bar outside Guerneville. The Sonoma County Community Development Commission has applied for Project Homekey funding to purchase the site and improve it for permanent supportive housing in partnership with West County Community Services. 
  • $80,000 for a 22-space safe parking program in Sebastopol at 845 Gravenstein Highway North. The funding, which leverages a partnership between City of Sebastopol and Sonoma Applied Village Services, will help the project continue through the end of 2022. 

The projects will be funded with $1 million in discretionary reserves from the county’s general fund and $1 million from the county’s settlement with PG&E over damage caused by the 2017 wildfires. 

The funding approved by the Board of Supervisors aligns with goals outlined in the county’s five-year strategic plan for creating healthy and safe communities.

One thought on “Springs homeless project gets big boost from Sonoma County supes”

  1. I think the biggest question is who will be staffing these places and will they be properly trained? I recently was exited from Los Guilicos on a lie. A lie which 2 supervisors were involved with. And even though I had proof that what they were saying was not true, the site manager didn’t even back me up. And he knew they werent being honest. That place has no structure or any kind of program.. There is a lot of drug use there and the residents are just milking the system. It’s millions of dollars going to waste. There’s no accountability, and the staff has no understanding or empathy towards any of the residents. They don’t follow proper procedures and make up rules as they go. The staff is rude and act às if they are better than. Everyone has their own interpretation on things, and that is just mine. It’s an adjustment coming from the streets. Especially when you’ve been out there s long time. It becomes your familiarity, and everyone else on the streets become your family. And we all help each other to just survive on a daily basis. The staff in these facilities should have empathy and compassion as well as paitence. Not every person coming from the streets has the same background, or history. For example, I came from out of a domestic violence situation, and I have severe depression and anexity with PTSD, among other things. And someone else might be dealing with a different situation. .staff should consider that information so to better interact with certain indi
    duals.

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