LAKEPORT >> Searching for a solution for homelessness is complex and at times can seem irrepressible and perhaps one of the most difficult challenges in California currently.
Media images of urban homeless camps stimulate not only fear but also rage. State, county and municipal leaders bicker over best practices to mitigate the crisis yet face increasing pressure from residents and businesses to ameliorate the problem.
One accepted truism is, everybody living on the street is addicted to drugs or mentally ill. While some living on the street, suffer more mental health challenges than the population at large, substance abuse or mental health do not affect every unhoused person. Less than 4% of adults in California have a serious mental illness, according to the California Health Care Foundation.
At a meeting in Lake County Board of Supervisors chambers, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-4) met with Lake County Administrative Department directors in late July to be apprised of priorities. In regard to homelessness, the sum allocated by federal, state and counties is not adequate to deal with all the symptoms manifested, Thompson noted. “The county needs to find out why this happens, and the Fourth District can help raise funds and address it at the source,” he said..
Elise Jones, Lake County Behavioral Health director, noted allocation-based grants provide a disproportionate amount of support to Los Angeles County and the Bay Area Counties, while smaller counties like the County of Lake are forced to compete for a more diminished pot of funds. Jones expressed wonder at why the state would believe it is less expensive to build health facilities in Lake County.
Jones explained there is already a significant amount of research on brain disorders, but Thompson countered it is way too short. However, Jones respectfully disagreed, while noting it has occurred for decades. She went on to state that there has been an initiative since last October to raise the minimum wage, in an effort to remediate those structural issues. “But it is also true, Walmart has 50% of its employees on public aid,” she said. “So, we have taxpayers subsidizing corporations while the rest of the population scrambles to figure out, how to pay for everything.”
In Lake County, Redwood Community Services (RCS), manages the local shelter in the space where the former Juvenile Hall existed in the city of Lakeport. Sage Wolf is the integrated health director at RCS. She said they have 35 guests currently, 20 of them men, and 15 women staying at Xamintin Haven, 1111 Whalen Way, which has been repurposed as an emergency shelter she said. There is considerable turnover among individuals there noted Wolf. “Probably 60% we accurately track after their departure,” she said. “These are people engaged with receiving some type of wrap-around services. A lot stay with family, and we try to help repair their relationships (to get them re-housed).”
What makes it difficult for some people to attain housing or stay housed, is many RCS clients have little or zero income, yet many are eligible for Supplemental Security Income. Yet the application is extensive and numerous people get denied, then they must appeal. “They don’t have enough documentation to justify the need for SSI,” Wolf explained. “A key piece of successful re-housing is getting them accepted to a rental subsidy program. One strategy proven successful is getting an individual a housing navigator so, that person is hyper focused on solving an unhoused situation.”
RCS’s website says it offers compassionate and responsible crisis care. In 2022, 8,968 crisis services were provided, bringing total hours of services to 14,233 hours. RCS continues advocating for improved mental health resources across the region. Through community partnerships, education, and a 24-hour crisis hotline, RCS works to strengthen the response system. But the majority of those RCS work with are living with some sort of disability (substance abuse or a mental health illness).
“I think we’re facing sever poverty,” Wolf said. “It can be challenging to get housing even when a person has an income and rents are so incredibly high.” She also pointed out, even within their own work force, new hires find it difficult to find places to live. “Lake County Continuum of Care is comprised of organizations and individuals seeking to implement solutions,” Wolf said.
There are abundant theories of how to resolve the issue, but studies indicate some are misleading. One repeated assertion is that most of the homeless arrived from somewhere else. Another oft repeated thread is the indigent came here because of the mild climate and the plethora of social services they can access. Yet research does not support that. A majority of the state’s homeless are from California, also most are still living in the same county where they lost their housing, according to a survey by the University of California San Francisco Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. The survey showed 90% of homeless were from California and 75% lived in the same county where they were last housed.
Another false premise is that the homeless do not want shelter. Nichole Fiore, a principal associate with research firm Abt Global, who co-authored a report, told CalMatters (online publication) in May. She said people who had refused shelter in the past were willing to try Roomkey (provided motel rooms during COVID). “People will come indoors if they’re able to keep their partners, their pets, their possessions,” she said.
“People come inside given the right conditions. People come indoors if they are offered autonomy, safety and privacy, People who previously declined shelter, accepted under (state program) Roomkey,” she added.
