Solano Reentry Council General Meeting Set for Thursday

The Solano Reentry Council is hosting its next quarterly general meeting on Thursday, April 19, from 1 – 3 p.m.  The meeting will be held at the County Events Center, 601 Texas Street in Fairfield.  The meeting is open to all interested persons.

This meeting will focus on homelessness and the criminal justice system.  The featured presenter is Zack Olmstead, Homeless Policy Advocate at Housing California.  Mr. Olmstead advocates for policy reform to prevent and end homelessness and coordinates the efforts of homeless advocacy partners throughout the state. 

Mr. Olmstead wrote in a 2010 article, “In many ways, our expensive … prisons and jails have unintentionally become our biggest ‘homeless shelters’.  The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) knows  this to be true.

The CDCR recognizes that not having a stable place to live is a risk factor that contributes to parolee recidivism rates.”  The speaker has said that effective, cost saving solutions to homelessness do exist that will reduce recidivism.

He noted that “Affordable homes with access to support services have been found to be less than half as expensive as the average cost of “housing” someone with mental illness in jail or prison.”

Mr. Olmstead will be joined by a panel of local housing experts.  Panelists include Robert Stalker, Legal Services of Northern California; Robert Sullens,  Solano County Mental Health Services; Anne Putney, Vacaville Housing Authority; Theresa Kerr, California Apartment Association, and P. J. Davis, Community Action Partnership-Solano. 

Those in attendance will have time to dialogue with the presenter and panelists.  Local shelters, transitional homes, affordable housing providers will have materials for distribution at the meeting.  For additional information call (707) 427-6640 ext. 229.