LAKEPORT >> As local governing officials set new efforts to address homelessness in the county, organizations are also joining in on the ongoing issue. Among the latter is Lakeport’s North Coast Opportunities (NCO) with their latest adoption of the Rapid Re-Housing Program.
According to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, rapid re-housing is “an intervention designed to help individuals and families quickly exit homelessness and return to permanent housing.” Though certain qualifications apply when defining who is or is not considered homeless, assistance is offered without preconditions such as employment, income, an absence of criminal record or sobriety.
Resources and additional services available are molded to benefit the needs of each household.
“We help people that are homeless get into proper housing. When looking at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, physical needs like food, water, and housing come first. We take people that need a little step up,” Rapid Re-Housing Program Case Manager Tanya Jadrich said.
NCO began their chapter of Rapid Re-Housing in early March. Since then, they have helped three families find a place to rent and move on to the next steps.
The multi-step process consists of making an appointment with NCO and finding out if applicants qualify as homeless. In order to qualify, one must live in the streets or a place that is considered by law insufficient, such as having no roof or running water. Living in hotels does not qualify.
After the application process, individuals’ information is entered via VI-SPDAT, a digital waitlisting system. Then, when an opening is available, applicants receive a callback and the search for rentals begin.
Once the search begins, individuals and families have 60 days to find property and lock in on a deposit and rent.
Jadrich says that one of the most challenging aspects of this step is when clients have bad credit, skewing away some property managers from helping. Rapid Re-Housing does not co-sign, but rather they work side-by-side with clients during the housing process. Negotiations with property managers are often necessary to further explain the program and ensure income inspections that clients undergo every three months.
After housing is settled, Jadrich and her team help individuals and families focus on secondary necessities like finding a job, returning to school, or improving their credit scores.
“This program is set so that they can be successful participating members of their communities again, especially with all the natural disasters that Lake County has faced,” Jadrich said.
The start of Rapid Re-Housing at NCO was no casual achievement, according to NCO’s Executive Assistant Traci Boyl. The grant that the federal program receives comes from the state and in order to receive funding, organizations must go through Continuum of Care (COC) — an integrated health care system that follows a patient through time or through a range of services — and other organizations that must review applications before approving funding.
“The challenge was developing a program that we never had before,” Boyl said. “And with 3 levels — state, federal, and COC, we had to figure out how to stay compliant with all requirements. There’s a lot of layers to this, but it’s the first time that this community has received a homeless housing grant for about 15 years.”
After a lengthy process, the Lakeport NCO team received a grant to launch their own rapid -rehousing program in early December. But as with any layered procedure, they were unable to begin until receiving an official contract, pushing their official start date to the beginning of March.
Now in the works, the team says that one of the biggest challenges they see happening is that Lake County has very few places available for rent. The ratio of people looking to rent to the number of places unoccupied is significantly uneven. Jadrich added that there is also a lack of resources, minimizing her options for her clients. She mentioned transportation to be a simple but very vital problem.
“Not everyone has a car or access to transportation. If I want to sign a client up for a parenting class, transportation becomes an issue. There are very few classes that are cost efficient and close,” she said.
Despite these challenges, local organizations have reached out to help the families in the program, including Hidden Valley Community Church. They decided to offer laundry baskets to each family that attained a home. The Perez Carmona family were one of the first families to receive a laundry basket after they were given the keys to their new home. In February, the family lost their home when it was red-tagged and through the program, they were able to find a rental by April.
After attending the Innovation Summit last week, Jadrich says she feels hopeful about the County’s direction toward helping the homeless.
“People are noticing that there is a need for more housing, jobs, and resources. Helping families like the Perez Carmona’s pushes us to continue. Our goal this year is to reapply for next year’s grant so this work can continue,” Jadrich said.
The program, with a national success rate of 90 percent, is located at 850 Lakeport Blvd. They are currently looking for bilingual volunteers to help translate to Spanish speakers.
