Homelessness In Santa Cruz: What's Being Done To Help?

SANTA CRUZ, CA —Santa Cruz County has one of the highest rates of homelessness per capita in California. There have been many efforts to try to curb this issue and now the city and county are trying a new approach.

The new goal is to be proactive instead of reactive and work more holistically by collaborating with multiple organizations.

A Homelessness Response Action Plan was approved by Santa Cruz City Council Tuesday, fueling optimism for positive outcomes.

There are five portions included in the plan, Homelessness Response Manager Larry Imwalle told Patch.

They are:

• Building capacity and partnerships.
• Creating affordable and permanent supportive housing.
• Providing basic support services for hygiene, shelter and storage.
• Care and stewardship.
• Community safety.

This is the first approach for this model and Imwalle feels confident it will have an impact.

“Coming out of this meeting, I am optimistic and excited about this action plan. It really represents a shift for the city,” he said.

Housing Matters CEO Phil Kramer told Patch he too feels encouraged about this plan. Kramer said the congregate living that’s been done in the past no longer works in this pandemic climate.

“We are not going back to trying to get as many people in a room as possible. That is not a healthy environment and doesn’t lead to good housing outcomes,” he said.

Pallet shelters have been available through Housing Matters for the last two years as the standard dormitory-style housing is no longer suitable. Vehicles in the campus' parking lot were moved to add these structures. Imwalle's goal is to add 30 more.

Both agree that this new plan can only work with collaboration. It takes a team.

“We have a solid roadmap now to address this critically important issue in our community,” Imwalle said.

"This is evidence of the commitment the city of Santa Cruz has to making some real change," Kramer said.

$14.5 million is the estimated cost to put the plan into place. Imwalle said a budget presentation will come back to the city council in May