Mountain View City Council
June 27, 2023

City Manager’s Office
DATE: December 15, 2022
TO: City Council
FROM: Kimberly S. Thomas, Assistant to the City Manager Parneet Dhindsa, Human Services Manager
VIA: Kimbra McCarthy, City Manager
SUBJECT: Human Services Division Update on Initiatives to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents

INTRODUCTION
This memorandum provides a comprehensive update on actions related to the City’s extensive homeless programs and initiatives , similar to the one provided to Council on August 4, 2021 (Attachment 1). This memorandum is for informational purposes and does not require Council action. It includes:
• Updated numbers from the County’s 2022 Point in Time Homelessness Count and the City’s August 2022 Living in Vehicles Count;
• Fiscal Years 2020 -21 and 2021 -22 year -end numbers on clients served by established programs;
• City and other funding invested in programs; and
• Updated data on a number of COVID -19 relief efforts that remained active in Fiscal Year 2021-22.

As th is memorandum is comprehensive in scope, it also includes definitions and background information about the programs and cumulative funding and service totals.

With the hiring of the Human Services Manager approved in the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget and the development of a Homelessness Response Strategy, staff anticipates providing a streamlined annual memorandum reporting on programs in the context of the City’s overall strategy in addition to regular updates through the Council Connection and scheduled agenda items , as Attachment 5
Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

needed, for Council action. Staff will also continue to post ongoing program updates to the City’s webpage, mountainview.gov/homeless.

BACKGROUND

City Role and Approach to Addressing the Needs of Unhoused and Unstably Housed Residents

Homelessness is a significant issue, driven in large part by shortfalls in housing supply and affordable housing throughout the region and the State. Since 2016, the City has developed programs and policies and dedicated nearly $11 million in funding to s erve homeless and unstably housed residents. Throughout this time, the City has actively collaborated with the County and community -based organizations (CBO) that have staff expertise and dedicated funding streams for working with homeless and vulnerable populations. In addition, the City is recognized as a regional leader in developing and funding affordable housing, with an investment of nearly $127 million as shown in Attachment 2.

In addition, Council has adopted an ambitious Strategic Road Map and w ork plan for Fiscal Years 2021-22 and 2022 -23 with priorities to increase housing opportunities and support a community for all. This includes:

• Developing a housing strategy to facilitate development of a range of housing to meet the spectrum of need, including interim housing and permanent housing;

• Developing a displacement response strategy, including local replacement requirements and evaluation of an acquisition/preservation program;

• Evaluating potential middle-income housing strategies to serve our middle-income families; and

• Developing a homelessness response strategy and expenditure plan.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Partnerships Across the Homeless Services Continuum

Based on Council direction, staff aimed early on to connect with the Countywide system to leverage the County’s resources and to expand public and private partnerships to address the needs of those who live in vehicles and others experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Mountain View. Table 1 below shows the partners that are essential to our success:

Table 1: List of Essential Partners

• Alta Housing
• Bill Wilson Center
• Cafecito
• Community Health Awareness Council
• Community Services Agency (CSA)
• COVID-19 Community-Based Organization
Team
• Destination: Home
• Dignity on Wheels
• HomeFirst
• Hope’s Corner
• Los Altos United Methodist Church
• Mountain View Day Worker Center
• Human Relations Commission
• LifeMoves
• Live Nation
• Momentum for Health
• MOVE Mountain View
• New Directions—A Program of Peninsula
Healthcare Connections
• Reach Potential Movement
• Santa Clara County
— Valley Homeless Healthcare Program
— County Housing Authority
— Office of Supportive Housing
• Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
• St. Athanasius food distribution program
• STAND4 INC. food distribution program
• The United Effort Organization

Continuum of Coordinated Care

The needs and services related to homelessness can be viewed within a continuum for “coordinated care,” which includes homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter, and interim/temporary housing. Definitions of these programs are included in Attachment 3. Across this continuum, services also include programs to meet basic health and safety needs that are important in their own right and also support the ability of residents in need to sustain stable housing. Finally, the effectiveness of the continuum of coordinated care relies on extensive communication and coordination across providers as well as ongoing outreach to residents in need of assistance. The efforts of the City and the City’s partners in these are as, both longstanding and in response to COVID -19, are described later in the Discussion section of this memorandum.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

DISCUSSION

Homelessness Trends in Mountain View

2022 County Point in Time Homelessness Count

The County of Santa Clara completes a comprehensive, biannual, “point-in-time” (PIT) homeless count, which serves as a baseline for understanding homelessness in the region. This count includes those who are unsheltered and unstably housed, enumerating in dividuals and families sleeping in emergency shelters and transitional housing as well as people sleeping on the streets, in vehicles, abandoned properties, or other places not meant for human habitation. The most recent PIT count was in 2022. The overal l number of homeless individuals remained relatively steady with a 3% increase Countywide (to 10,028). At the same time, there was a 3% decrease in the number of unsheltered individuals in the County.

Over the prior three County PIT counts, the number of homeless people in Mountain View had increased from 276 in 2015, to 416 in 2017, to 606 in 2019, more than doubling in four years.

The 2022 count of 346 is a decrease of 43% from 2019. The County’s count considers residents living in recreational and other vehicles as unsheltered.

Table 2: PIT Count Comparison—City of Mountain View
and County of Santa Clara (2015 - 2022)

2015 2017 2019 2022
City of Mountain View 276 416 606 346
County of Santa Clara 6,556 7,394 9,706 10,028

Since the last PIT count was done, the City has opened LifeMoves Mountain View, an interim housing community that has 100 units and provides intensive case management and support services designed to return people to stable housing. This has made a significant contribution to the options for homeless residents.

City Living in Vehicles Count

To augment the information from the County count, the City also conducts a n annual street-by- street count of vehicles that appear to be in use for living purposes. A count was conducted in August 2022. (This was prior to the settlement of Navarro v. City of Mountain View .) A map of the locations with residents living in vehicles , showing areas of higher concentration in the City , is included in Attachment 4. As shown in Figure 1 below, over the past five years, the count of vehicles in the public right -of-way used for living has ranged from 200 to 300 vehicles, with the recent counts trending downward. Since the December 2018 count, more than one-half of the counted vehicles have been RVs. Between the count in February 2020, which was before the Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

opening of the safe parking lots, and the most recent count in August 2022, there was a decrease of vehicles used for living purposes in the public right-of-way, although this decrease was not by the same amount as the vehicles transitioned to safe parking. The chart below shows the latest numbers from August 2022. The next City count will be conducted in January 2023.

Figure 1: City of Mountain View Vehicle Count Trend (2017 - August 2022)

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Overview of City Homelessness Response Strategies and Actions

Table 3 below provides a high-level summary of Mountain View’s overall programs and services across the continuum of homeless response strategies, many of which will be discussed further in this report.

Table 3: City of Mountain View Strategies
for Addressing Homelessness

Strategies to
Address Homelessness
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Congregate Shelter • Funding for a transitional shelter (Graduate House operated by LifeMoves), which has
capacity for five adults; and a youth shelter
(Quetzal House operated by Bill Wilson) with
capacity for 40 youth serving North County.

• Emergency sheltering, with 65 beds
provided in conjunction with the County.

• Expanded land use options for sheltering.

Safe Parking • Developed Safe Parking Ordinance and
permit program for private lots.

• Funded all necessary site setup and support
for a nonprofit start-up.

• Coordinated with the County and partner
CBOs to expand on-site services and provide
running water, mobile showers, laundry
services, and mobile medical unit visits.

• Created a program with 101 parking spaces,
which is the largest site in the County,
provided in conjunction with the County of
Santa Clara; operates 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.

• Proposed expansion of Shoreline Lot B that
would increase the City’s program to 120
spaces, adding even more spaces to the
largest program in the County.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Strategies to
Address Homelessness
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Interim Housing • Supported development and provided
funding for LifeMoves Mountain View with
100 units of interim housing serving
approximately 300 people per year.

Core Housing Programs • Funding for 200 units of rapid rehousing/ permanent supportive housing.

• Approximately 1,628 affordable housing
units in the City.

• Approximately 861 additional affordable
housing units in various stages of
development.

• A significant pipeline of inclusionary below-
market-rate units.

• Approximately 14,950 rental units rent-
protected under the Community
Stabilization and Fair Rent Act voter initiative
adopted in 2016.

• Approximately 1,130 mobile homes rent-
protected under the Mobile Home Rent
Stabilization Ordinance adopted in 2021.

• Homelessness Prevention Programs like the
$4.6 million in City Rent Relief Program
(including supplementary COVID-19
response program).

• Funding a permanent supportive housing
contract with the County, providing
assistance to approximately 20 households.

• Supported and provided funding for
County’s conversion of Crestview Hotel into
48 units of affordable housing.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Strategies to
Address Homelessness
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Outreach Services • Joint City-County funding for CSA outreach.

• City multilingual outreach strategies and
multi-channel communications.

• Coordination with CBOs working with the
unstably housed population.

• Mountain View Police Department (MVPD)
Neighborhood Event Services (NES) unit has
a Community Outreach Officer position with
a compassionate enforcement approach.

• MVPD Outreach Team distributes resource
flyers (multiple languages) to vehicles
believed to be used by unhoused people,
meeting residents where they are.

Community Resources, Access, or Case
Management—Links to Continuum of Care
(CoC), safety-net services, and path to
housing
• Joint City-County funding for CSA Homeless
Case Manager for housing referrals and
current City full funding for the ongoing
program.

• Funding for case management/permanent
supportive housing units for 20 chronically
homeless households in partnership with the
County (New Directions—A Program of
Peninsula Healthcare Connections).

Basic Services (food and other items) • Gift card programs for COVID-19 response.

• Capital funding support for Meals at Hope’s
Corner.

• Support for CSA and Second Harvest grocery
distribution programs.

• Food Talk group and coordination of local
information (seven-day-per-week access
options during COVID-19).

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Strategies to
Address Homelessness
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Sanitation and Hygiene • Funding expanded mobile shower services added at CSA for COVID-19 response.

• Portable toilets and hand-washing stations
for COVID-19 response.

Fiscal Year 2021-22 Update on Homelessness and Housing Programs

Staff receives data updates for various initiatives related to homelessness and housing on an annual basis. A description of the programs which report out on a fiscal -year basis is provided below, followed by data for Fiscal Year 2021-22. Detailed data is available in Attachment 3. Also included in the attachment is data for Fiscal Year 2020-21.

Police Community Outreach Metrics

Mountain View Police Department’s Neighborhood and Event Services (NES) unit established a Community Outreach Officer position in Fiscal Year 2017-18. In addition to the normal duties of a Police Officer, the Community Outreach Officer acts as a liaison between social service groups and the homeless. The approach of the Community Outreach Officer is to balance compassion with enforcement when problem -solving issues that come with this vulnerable population. In Fiscal Year 2021-22, 35 homeless subjects were referred to CSA for assistance and 103 were referred to other housing and shelter services.

CSA Housing Problem-Solving and Information Referral and Case Management

CSA provides housing problem -solving, information referral , and case management services to Mountain View residents. This program was jointly funded by the City and County until Fiscal Year 2021-22. The program will be funded by the City for Fiscal Year 2022 -23. In F iscal Year 2021-22, a total of 701 Mountain View residents were served for housing problem-solving, informational referral, and case management.

Homelessness Prevention Program

The County-funded Homelessness Prevention Program aims to provide funds to keep individuals in stable housing to prevent homelessness. For Fiscal Year 2021-22, a total of 243 Mountain View-affiliated households were enrolled in the program and kept in stable housing.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Rapid Rehousing Program

The County -funded Rapid Rehousing Program provides short -term financial assistance and support to quickly rehouse homeless households in their own independent permanent housing.

In Fiscal Year 2021-22, there were a total of 99 Mountain View-affiliated households enrolled in the program.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive Housing provides longer -term rental assistance, case management, and supportive services to the most vulnerable chronically homeless individuals and families in the community. Both the County and City fund Permanent Supportive Hous ing. In F iscal Year 2021-22, the County-funded program enrolled 86 Mountain View households and the City- funded program enrolled 20 Mountain View-affiliated households.

Interim Housing—LifeMoves Mountain View (Project HomeKey)

In May 2021, the City celebrated the opening of a new modern, modular, supportive interim housing community, in partnership with LifeMoves, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the County of Santa Clara, private philanthropies, and private - sector donors, including Google and LinkedIn. This project opened just months after being granted HomeKey funds in October 2020 as part of the State’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Located at 2566 Leghorn Street, LifeMoves Mountain View helps people experiencing homelessness transition to permanent housing through case management and housing location services. The site feature s innovative private modular units for 100 households serving approximately 300 to 400 people per year.

LifeMoves is at full capacity and has served 312 clients from 249 households as of June 30, 2022.

Detailed data is provided in Attachment 3.

Crestview Hotel

The effort to convert the Crestview Hotel at 901 East El Camino Real into highly needed affordable housing continues to move forward , and the site is expected to open its doors to residents in mid-2023. Most recently, the County selected Jamboree as the partner developer to convert the hotel units into studio and two -bedroom apartments for individuals and families.

Community input has been a critical piece of this project, and more community meetings will be held as the project proceeds.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Safe Parking

The City has been instrumental in: supporting the formation of a local, nonprofit, safe parking provider (MOVE Mountain View); launching small, safe parking programs at faith -based locations; adopting a Safe Parking Ordinance to facilitate the creation of safe parking locations on private lots; securing three dedicated safe parking lots; partnering with the County of Santa Clara to provide safe parking and a range of other services to support unstably housed residents on a path to permanent housing; and growing to become the largest safe parking provider in the region with the capacity for up to 101 parking spaces (includes both faith-based lots).

Currently, four sites are in operation (three City-secured and one faith/congregation lot). These sites are at or near capacity with an average, over time, of 130 to 150 unduplicated participants living in 80 vehicles. A majority of the participants are families and are residing in oversized vehicles, such as RVs. A comprehensive safe parking update was provided at the June 14, 2022 Council meeting (Attachment 5). At this meeting, Council took action to extend the 24/7 safe parking operation for City -secured sites and authorized the associated agreemen ts for implementation.

Additional Housing Authority Funds

In addition to the City initiatives and partnerships above, t he Santa Clara County Housing Authority assists approximately 392 households in Mountain View through the Housing Choice Voucher program. This program provides Mountain View households with up to $897,581 in assistance based on the difference between a mi nimum rent paid by the household and the standard/contract rent. The current assistance amounts to approximately $758,894.

Investment in Homelessness Solutions

Reducing the number of individuals and families without a home requires multi -agency and interdepartmental coordination, regional collaboration, and a long -term focus. The investment by the City and the City’s partners to address homelessness is summarized below and described in more detail in Attachment 2.

City Investment

The City’s strategies and actions taken thus far represent a significant investment in addressing this important and complex regional concern, totaling over $10.8 million from 2016 to Fiscal Year 2021-22. This funding reflects the direction Council provided and implemented over the last six years and includes other funding commitments, such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and programs funded in response to COVID-19.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

In addition to the funds for homeless programs and associated services, th e City has funded limited-period specific health and safety enforcement activities detailed in Attachment 2 for Fiscal Years 2018 -19 and 2019 -20 unless noted . The Police Community Outreach Officer is included since a large part of this Officer’s time is devoted to homeless outreach.

State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investment

As shown in Attachment 2, the City and its partners have generated over $23.5 million from 2016 through Fiscal Year 2021-22 in grants and donations to serve the needs of homeless and unstably housed residents.

County Investment

Attachment 2 shows the City’s continued work with Santa Clara County to secure funding commitments for the Mountain View community, resulting in over $75.4 million in funding (includes funds committed but not expended). This funding is in large part based on the City’s ongoing and proactive coordination of opportunities with the County. There is no set County allocation of funds for cities.

Affordable Housing Investment

Attachment 2 shows the City’s ongoing investment as a regional leader in developing and funding affordable housing , with a total investment of nearly $127 million . As noted earlier in this memorandum, the City has approximately 1,628 affordable housing units. Approximately 14,950 rental units are rent -protected under the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act voter initiative adopted in 2016. In addition, there are approximately 861 additional affordable units in various stages of development.

COVID-19 Crisis and Transition Response

Rental Assistance

On December 15, 2015, Council first approved funding in the amount of $150,000 for a rental assistance program administered by CSA. In March 2020, Council approved the Mountain View COVID-19 Rent Relief Program (C -19RRP) to be administered by CSA . The program provides up to $3,000 of rental assistance per month for up to three months to qualifying Mountain View tenants impacted by COVID -19. Council has approved a total of $4,843,916 for CSA to provide rental assistance and other direct assistance to residents in nee d. This includes ARPA funds allocated by Council as part of the Fiscal Years 2021-22 and 2022-23 budget processes. As of June 2022, the program has provided rental assistance to over 1,037 households.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

CSA has used funding for other direct financial assistance to stabilize housed and unhoused clients who were impacted by the COVID -19 pandemic. Demographic data for clients receiving financial assistance in Fiscal Year 2021-22 is noted below:

• 206 households assisted

• 110 households with children (53%)

• 42 households with seniors (20%)

• 89% of households have an income level below 30% Area Median Income (AMI)

• Majority are Hispanic/Latinx

To help people apply for COVID -19 emergency rent rel ief programs and learn about COVID -19 eviction protections, City staff has completed extensive outreach over the past year. This has been conducted in coordination with CSA, Project Sentinel, the Community in Action Team (CAT), community ambassadors from the Spanish Leadership Academy, and the Mountain View Whisman School District and Mountain View Los Altos High School District to reach the most vulnerable households. Outreach efforts include: hosting joint in-person and virtual events with community pa rtners and the County of Santa Clara, creating and distributing a variety of communication materials, and regular updates to the website in three languages.

The City has provided a range of assistance to unhoused and unstably housed residents during and following the COVID -19 crisis to address impacts of the pandemic . The vast majority of information regarding the City’s COVID-19 response, including program descriptions, has been moved to Attachment 6. Information about ongoing programs is included below.

Ongoing Collaboration

The City has continuously collaborated with the local emergency assistance network, nonprofit organizations (CSA, MOVE Mountain View, Hope’s Corner, Day Worker Center of Mountain View, LifeMoves, STAND4 INC., Cafecito , Reach Potential Movement, Momentum for Health, and The United Effort Organization), and government agencies to combine and leverage resources to help as many people in need as possible. The City has convened a standing meeting since March 2020, initially weekly and ultimately moving to monthly in July 2021.

Mobile and/or Fixed Showers

Ongoing shower and laundry services are available at Hope’s Corner. The Septembe r 2022 schedule indicates shower and laundry services are available at Hope’s Corner on Mondays from Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, and Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. During COVID-19, shower and laundry service enhancements were provided twice a week at CSA through Dignity on Wheels . With Hope’s Corner returning to full operational capacity, service enhancements have since been transitioned and CSA continues to provide case management services during those two days.

In addition, the County and the County’s partners also provide laundry and shower services at a number of locations throughout the County, including the safe parking lots. The City and other providers have distributed information about where people can access showers.

Mobile Medical Unit

To meet the increased medical needs of the homeless/unstably housed, staff collaborated w ith the County Public Health Department and their Valley Homeless Healthcare Program (VHHP) team to plan for Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) services in Mountain View. The August 2022 schedule indicates the medical van visits the County -leased safe parking lots on the first (Evelyn lot) and third (Shoreline) Thursdays of every month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon; MMU visits LifeMoves Mountain View on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon; MMU visits Hope’s Corner on the third W ednesday of the month from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon; and backpack/street medicine (not site-specific) program operations are available daily, Monday through Friday. Program data shows:

• 611 visits made by the team from May 2021 through June 2022, and 244 patients served.

City WiFi and Nonprofit Power Stations

The City has communicated all City -provided WiFi locations in its regular information packet distribution, both via flyer and in the online resource map. From April 2020 to February 2022, Hope’s Corner and The United Effort Organization were providing portable chargers for laptops and cell phones, power stations, and solar panels to the vulnerable population and organizations in Mountain View to recharge their devices. The program came to end in in February 2022 as libraries and public spaces began reopening. Program highlights for May 2021 through February 2022 are below:

• 123 power stations and 109 solar panels distributed.

• 59 phone chargers and 15 laptop chargers provided.

In partnership with the Mountain View Whisman School District, the City launched a WiFi access pilot program for students. In Fiscal Year 2022 -23, the District plans to extend the network to Mountain View Community Center to help with providing internet access to families living in the Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Rengstorff area. Children who need to remotely access schoolwork can connect with their district’s McKinney-Vento liaison to arrange WiFi access.

Food Access/Services

The City approved several agreement modifications to maintain and enhance food services programs. Staff worked with CSA as they shifted the operation of the Senior Nutrition Program at the Senior Center to a drive -up model. The City approved the shift in Ho pe’s Corner’s Wednesday lunch and Saturday breakfast services to a drive -through service at downtown Parking Lot 7. Staff also worked with Second Harvest to move their Tuesday food distribution to a drive-through model when Shelter -in-Place began. In add ition, the City added Thursdays for Second Harvest to have volunteers pick up food from the Senior Center parking lot for delivery to homebound community members instead of the volunteers coming on Tuesdays at the same time as the general public. In summer 2021, staff worked with Second Harvest to move their Tuesday food distribution to a hybrid distribution model, utilizing the Senior Center parking lot and Multipurpose Room A for distribution. Thursday deliveries to homebound community members ended in July 2021. In July 2022, distribution moved back to the prepandemic format and is operated indoors.

The Community Services Department created a multilingual chart of all available food sources, including details of days, times, and organization contact details, and staff regularly updates the online resource map. CSA and Hope’s Corner also coordinate meetings of other community food providers to ensure information on services is up to date.

Data highlights about food programs for the period May 2021 through April/June 2022 are below:

CSA

• 1,100 meals per week on average for the Senior Nutrition Program;

• 35 food bag deliveries per week to clients receiving case management services; and

• 430 food bags per week through the food and nutrition center and mobile pantries.

Hope’s Corner

• 43,468 meals served for the period May 2021 through June 2022;

• Average of 250 lunches served each Wednesday and 450 meals each Saturday;

• 3,940 meals for day workers at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View on Saturdays; Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

• 8,050 meals delivered to RV residents at five locations in Mountain View on Wednesdays and Saturdays;

• 410 meals served in the Monday AM Coffee Program, which began in 2022; and

• Partnered with The United Effort Organization, whose data highlights from the period May 2021 through June 2022 are below:

— Provided assistance filing for 122 Federal and State tax returns for 80 unhoused clients to get their stimulus payments in the amount of $3,200 from the Federal government and $600 from the State;

— Provided assistance signing 36 clients up for CalFresh, Medi -Cal, General Assistance, In-Home Supportive Service (IHSS); and Valley Transportation Authority paratransit pass and handicapped parking placard;

— Assisted six clients with Social Security Income and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) claims or appeals in collaboration with p ro bono law firms, clients’ social workers, and case managers of other organizations;

— Helped 30 clients look for housing, with 10 clients having found housing through Veterans Affairs programs, Permanent Supportive Housing, or Home Sharing;

— Provided personalized assistance services to 22 clients, which include installing ceiling insulation in an RV, helping clients open bank accounts, providing sobriety support via daily phone calls, arranging and accompanying clients for doctors’ appointments, helping clients read and understand mail, clearing out clients’ storage units to save monthly payments, visiting clients in hospitals and working with social workers to make discharge plans, visiting clients in jail and helping them make plans to enroll in rehabilitation programs upon release from jail, and assisting a client working with a personal injury attorney to recover damages suffered from a traffic accident; and

— Provided 15 donated laptops and tablets to clients.

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley’s Free Groceries Program

From May 2021 through June 2022, 733 unique households received groceries. Conservatively, that is over a 22% increase in households served compared to the start of the pandemic.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

STAND4 INC. Food Assistance Program

Data about STAND4’s food service programs and food security partnerships from May 2021 through June 2022 are highlighted below:

• 820 boxes of groceries distributed to feed up to 3,280 individuals.

• 400 unsheltered individuals served per week on average.

Reach Potential Movement

Established in 2008, Reach Potential Movement is a “boots on the ground” organization providing food, shelter, social services, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged individuals. The organization grew from serving 50 families a month prior to COVID-19, to serving over 2,000 families a week during the peak of COVID -19, to regularly serving 2,500 individuals per month as of August 2022. Data highlights about services provided to safe parking lot clients and unhoused individuals for the period May 2021 through June 2022 are highlighted below:

• 9,190 meals delivered to clients at safe parking lots and at Hope’s Corner;

• 720 meals provided to Mountain View Whisman School District students;

• 28,965 pounds of groceries provided;

• Over 1,250 new pairs of socks and hygiene kits distributed;

• 75 children received backpacks, haircuts, socks, shoes, and gift cards;

• 1,075 books provided to the MOVE Mountain View Bookmobile and through the Bookshelf in Every Home project;

• Over 500 winter blankets distributed in partnership with Cafecito;

• Three trash clean-up events with Menlo Church;

• Solar systems installed for three recreational vehicles (RVs); and

• Assisted individuals living in vehicles with mechanic services, towing services, DMV fees, vehicle insurance, and cellular payment support.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Cafecito

The Cafecito, or more formally “Cafecito con Aroma de Justicia,” provides a safe and supportive environment for members of the Mountain View community to share their concerns and develop support strategies. All members of the Cafecito are volunteers and are predomina ntly Spanish-speaking families living in rental housing. The activities of the Cafecito volunteers include direct outreach , especially to community members who have difficulty accessing information and services due to language or technology skills. The Cafecito has f ocused on families living in Ortega Avenue/California Street (70 families), California Street/Rengstorff Avenue (22 families), Higdon Avenue (20 families), and the Evelyn Family Apartments. Beginning March 2021, the Cafecito transitioned from providing di rect weekly food distributions to connecting these families with services provided by other organizations, first at Castro School and now at Graham Middle School, where volunteers assist. For Higdon Avenue families, Solidarity Fund members were trained fr om April 2021 through September 2021 to manage weekly outreach. Today, the Cafecito outreach is largely needed only for the distribution of printed flyers within these communities for important information and events, with occasional direct food distributions to families who are isolated due to quarantine or other circumstances.

The Cafecito volunteers also provide Spanish translations needed by MOVE Mountain View.

Next Steps for Human Services

The Human Services Division leads the City’s programs, serv ices, and partnerships to meet the needs of Mountain View’s most vulnerable residents to improve the quality of life for all residents. This includes developing policy recommendations and response strategies; coordinating with community -based organizations, nonprofits, faith-based, and intergovernmental partners; managing cross -departmental planning; promoting access to essential services; and administering budgets, agreements, and grants. The Division works in collaboration with a network of service providers to assist homeless, unstably housed, and other vulnerable residents through housing services, mental -health services, case-management services, and other basic-need human services.

Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

A key next step for the Division is development of a Homelessness Response Strategy. This will include contracting with a consultant to develop an assessment of community needs and available resources related to housing and supportive services for homeless and unstably housed Mountain View residents and develop ing an expenditure and funding plan in coordination with regional partners. The process will involve significant engagement with the community, including lived-experience advisors. Staff anticipates bringing the Strategy to Council for adoption by the end of 2023.

KST-PD/2/MGR
609-12-15-22M

Attachments: 1. August 4, 2021 Memorandum

2. Investment Summary

3. Programmatic Data Summary

4. Map of Locations with Residents Living in Vehicles

5. Council Report—June 14, 2022

6. COVID-19 Crisis and Transition Response

cc: Alta Housing
Bill Wilson Center
Cafecito
Community Health Awareness Council
Community Services Agency
COVID-19 Community-Based Organization Team
Destination: Home
Dignity on Wheels
HomeFirst
Hope’s Corner
Human Relations Commission
LifeMoves
Live Nation
Los Altos United Methodist Church
Mountain View Day Worker Center
Momentum for Health
MOVE Mountain View
New Directions—A Program of Peninsula Healthcare Connections Other CBOs and stakeholder/volunteers
Reach Potential Movement
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County Housing Authority
Human Services Division Update on Initiatives
to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
December 15, 2022

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
St. Athanasius Food Distribution Program
STAND4 INC.

The United Effort Organization
Valley Homeless Healthcare Program

Department Heads, Communications Division, Human Services Division

MEMORANDUM
City Manager’s Office

DATE: August 4, 2021

TO: City Council

FROM: Kimberly S. Thomas, Assistant to the City Manager Harsha Ramchandani, Management Fellow

VIA: Kimbra McCarthy, City Manager

SUBJECT: Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents

INTRODUCTION

This memorandum provides an update on actions related to the City’s extensive homeless programs and initiatives. This memorandum is for informational purposes and does not require Council action. This memorandum is similar to the comprehensive memorandum describing needs and services provided to Council on O ctober 30, 2020 (Attachment 1). It includes updated data specifically on COVID-19 response information on existing and new initiatives that commenced since our last memorandum in October 2020. A 2020-21 fiscal year-end report on established programs will be included in the next memorandum. With the hiring of the Human Services Manager approved in the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget and the development of a homelessness response strategy, staff anticipates moving to an annual memo randum reporting on programs , regular updates through the Council Co nnection, and scheduled agenda items as needed for Council action.

Homelessness is a significant and growing issue, driven in large part by shortfalls in housing supply and affordable housing throughout the region and the State. Since 2016, the City has developed programs and policies and dedicated over $9.9 million in funding to serve homeless and unstably housed residents. Throughout this time, the City has actively collaborated with the County and community -based organizations that have staff expertise and dedicated funding streams for working with homeless and vulnerable populations.

The needs and services related to homelessness can be viewed within a continuum for “coordinated care,” which includes homelessness prevention, rapid rehousing, Attachment 1
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

permanent supportive housing, emergency shelter, and interim/temporary housing.

Across this continuum, services also include programs to meet basic health and safety needs that are important in their own right and also support the ability to sustain stable housing. The efforts of the City and the City’s partners in these areas, both longstanding and in response to COVID-19, are described below.

BACKGROUND

Homelessness Trends in Mountain View and Living in Vehicles Count

The County of Santa Clara completes a co mprehensive, biannual, “point-in-time” (PIT) homeless count, which serves as a baseline for understanding homelessness in the region.

This count includes the unsheltered and unstably housed, enumerating those individuals and families who are sleeping in e mergency shelters and transitional housing as well as people sleeping on the streets, in vehicles, abandoned properties, or other places not meant for human habitation. The last PIT count was in 2019. The County received a waiver from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to postpone the count until 2022.

Over the past three County PIT counts, the number of homeless people in Mountain View has increased from 276 in 2015, to 416 in 2017, to 606 in 2019, more than doubling in four years. The vast majority of the people counted were unsheltered. The County’s count considers residents living in recreational and other vehicles as unsheltered.

To augment the information from the County count, the City also conducts a street -by- street count of vehicles that appear to be in use for living purposes. Over the past three years, the count of vehicles in the public right -of-way used for living has ranged from 250 to 300 vehicles. Since the December 2018 count, more than half of the counted vehicles have been RVs. Between the last count in February 2020, before the opening of the safe parking lots and the most recent count in July 2020, there was a decrease of vehicles used for living purposes in the public right -of-way, but the number of lived -in vehicles parked on the streets did not go down by the same amount as the vehicles transitioned to safe parking. The chart below shows the latest numbers from July 2020 .

The next City count will be conducted in July/August 2021, and the data will be reported in the next memorandum.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

HOMELESSNESS SERVICES

Partnerships Across the Homeless Services Continuum

Based on Council direction, staff aimed early on to connect with the Countywide system to leverage the County’s resources and to expand public and private partnerships to address the needs of those who live in vehicles and others experiencing or at risk for homelessness in Mountain View. The chart below shows the partners that are essential to our success:

• Alta Housing
• Bill Wilson Center
• Community Services Agency (CSA)
• COVID-19 Community-Based
Organization (CBO) Team
• Destination: Home
• Dignity on Wheels (DOW)
• Fight the Hate Ministry food
distribution program
• HomeFirst
• Homeless/Safe Parking Teams
• Hope’s Corner
• Los Altos United Methodist Church
• Mountain View Day Worker Center
• Human Relations Commission (HRC)
• LifeMoves
• Live Nation
• MOVE Mountain View
• New Directions—A Program of
Peninsula Healthcare Connections
• Reach Potential Movement (RPM)
• Santa Clara County
- Valley Homeless Healthcare
Program (VHHCP)
- County Housing Authority
- Office of Supportive Housing
• Second Harvest Food Bank (Second
Harvest)
• St. Athanasius food distribution
program

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

The services provided by these partnerships can be viewed within a contin uum for “coordinated care ,” and the various stages of housing instability, which includes Homelessness Prevention, Rapid Rehousing, and Permanent Supportive Housing.

Across this continuum, services also include programs to meet basic health and safety needs that are important in their own right and also support the ability to sustain stable housing.

The following chart provides a high -level summary of Mountain View’s overall programs and services across the continuum of homeless response strategies, many of which will be discussed further in this report:

Our Strategies to
Address Homeless
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Congregate Shelter • Year-round shelter for youth and young adults • Transitional shelter
• Cold-weather shelter (County CWSP)
Safe Parking • Funding for five lots
• Funded all necessary site setup
• Coordinated with the County and partner CBOs to
expand on-site services and provide running water,
mobile showers, and mobile medical unit visits
Interim Housing • State Homekey awarded with City funding for modular interim housing (LifeMoves Mountain
View)
• Crestview Hotel County opportunity being
explored
Core Housing Programs • Homelessness Prevention Programs • Rent Relief Program (including supplementary
COVID-19 response program)
• Rapid Rehousing Programs
• Permanent Supportive Housing Units
• Affordable Housing Units
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Our Strategies to
Address Homeless
Mountain View Actions
and Initiatives
Outreach Services • Joint City-County funding for CSA outreach • City multilingual outreach strategies and multi-
channel communications
• Coordination with CBOs working with unstably
housed population
• Mountain View Police Department (MVPD)
Neighborhood Event Services (NES) unit has a
Community Outreach Officer position with a
compassionate enforcement approach
• MVPD Outreach Team distributes resource flyers
(multiple languages) to vehicles believed to be used
by unhoused people
Community Resources,
Access, or Case
Management—Links to
Continuum of Care (CoC),
safety-net services, and
path to housing
• Joint City-County funding for CSA Homeless Case
Manager for housing referrals
• Funding for case management for the chronically
homeless for Permanent Supportive Housing (New
Directions—A Program of Peninsula Healthcare
Connections)
Basic Services (food and
other items)
• Gift card programs for COVID-19 response
• Capital funding support for Meals at Hope’s Corner
• Support for CSA and Second Harvest grocery
distribution programs
• Food Talk group and coordination of local access
(seven-day-per-week access options during
COVID-19)
Sanitation and Hygiene • Funding expanded mobile shower services added at CSA for COVID-19 response
• Portable toilets and hand-washing stations for
COVID-19 response
Phones and WiFi • Hope’s Corner-provided solar cell power banks • Online maps and distribution of flyers about City-
provided WiFi locations
Other • RV waste dumping vouchers for safe parking
• Safe Parking Ordinance and permit program for
private lots
• Human Relations Commission (HRC)
Subcommittee for safe parking
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Major City Accomplishments

The City, with its County - and community -based partners , has achieved many accomplishments over the last five years in providing a pathway to housing and actual housing placements. Highlights listed below include:

• Mountain View recognized as a regional leader in developing and funding affordable housing.

• Approximately 1,500 affordable housing units in the City.

• Approximately 750 additional affordable housing units in the pipeline.

• Approximately 15,000 rental units rent-protected under the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act voter initiative adopted in 2016.

• Developing Measure A program to fund 200 units of rapid rehousing/permanent supportive housing.

• Opened Safe Parking Program lots, providing up to 101 spaces in conjunction with the County, operating 24/7.

• Providing 65 emergency shelter beds in conjunction with the County ; includes partial-year cold-weather season.

• Funding a permanent supportive housing contract with the County, providing assistance to approximately 20 households.

• Opened LifeMoves Mountain View (Homekey Project) with 100 units of interim housing serving 300 to 400 people per year.

• Exploring Crestview Hotel opportunity to partner with the County on converting an existing hotel into 67 units for permanent housing.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

In addition, Council has adopted an ambitious Strategic Road Map and work plan for Fiscal Years 2021 -23 with priorities to increase housing opportunities and support a community for all. This includes:

• Developing a housing strategy to facilitate development of diverse range of housing to meet the spectrum of need, including interim housing and permanent housing;

• Developing a displacement response strategy, including local replacement requirements and evaluation of an acquisition/preservation program;

• Evaluating potential middle-income housing strategies to serve our middle-income families; and

• Developing a homelessness response strategy and expenditure plan.

Fiscal Year 2020-21 Update on Homelessness and Housing Programs

As noted in the introduction, staff receives data updates for various initiatives related to homelessness and housing on an annual basis (Attachment 1). The programs which report out on a fiscal -year basis are listed below. Status updates for Fiscal Year 2020 -21 will be included in the next update memorandum to Council.

• Additional Housing Authority Funds

• Outreach and Engagement

— City Staff Response

— Mountain View Police Department Community Outreach Officer

— CSA Mobile Outreach Worker/Case Manager

— County Outreach Program for harder-to-serve clients

• Vehicle Assistance Programs

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

• Housing Programs

— Homelessness Prevention Program

— Rapid Rehousing

— Permanent Supportive Housing

• Shelter Services

Investment in Homelessness Solutions

Reducing the number of individuals and families without a home requires multi-agency and interdepartmental coordination, regional collaboration, and a long -term focus. The following tables summarize the investment by the City and the City’s partners to address homelessness.

City Investment

The City’s strategies and actions taken thus far represent a s ignificant investment in addressing this important and complex regional concern, totaling over $9.9 million from 2016 to F iscal Year 2021-22, as summarized in the table below. For the most part, t his funding reflects the Council direction provided and implemented over the last four years but also includes other funding commitments, such as the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and programs funded in response to COVID-19.

City Investment (2016-21)
Nearly $10 million in City investment*
Item City
Contribution
County-supportive housing, including Rapid Rehousing, outreach, and case management programs (5.5 years of funding).

$1,117,500
County costs associated with 24/7 safe parking and expansion of safe parking spaces at existing lots, including related services for (4 years of funding for Fiscal Years 2019-22).

$890,000
MOVE Mountain View Safe Parking Program (2 years of funding).

$275,550
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

City Investment (2016-21)
Nearly $10 million in City investment*
Item City
Contribution
Community Services Agency (CSA) outreach, case management, hygiene services, and vehicle repair (4 years of funding).

$190,875
Alta Housing to prepare the Terra Bella safe parking lot.

$97,951
Health and Safety (4 years of funding for a portable restroom at Rengstorff Park).

$98,000
Police Community Outreach Officer (5 years of funding).

$1,060,600
Renovation of Quetzal House shelter.

$50,000
LifeMoves for shelter and support services to assist the homeless and renovation of the Graduate House shelter (5 years of CDBG and General Fund funding).

$167,892
CSA for Homeless Prevention initiatives (6 years of CDBG and General Fund funding. Includes funding under Alpha Omega program and Homeless Prevention programs).

$210,623
CSA for Seniors program (6 years of CDBG funding).

$142,166
CSA for Rental Assistance program (Below-Market-Rate (BMR) funds allocated in Fiscal Year 2018-19).
$70,000
CSA Emergency Assistance (CDBG funds allocated in Fiscal Year 2016-17).

$24,019
CSA funding assistance (Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project disbursed in May 2021).

$170,000
Hope’s Corner for renovation of their commercial kitchen (CDBG funds and Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project—see details about County bridge loan).

$361,784
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

City Investment (2016-21)
Nearly $10 million in City investment*
Item City
Contribution
MayView Community Health Center for primary health -care services for uninsured and underinsured residents (4 years of CDBG and General Fund funding).

$198,039
The Health Trust for Meals on Wheels (4 years of funding via General Fund allocation).

$131,180
TOTAL: $5,256,179
Programs Funded in Response to COVID-19 through June 2021 CSA expanded shower services during COVID‑19. $35,000
CSA Rent Relief program for addressing impacts due to COVID-19 (includes $100,000 General Non-Operating Funds and $500,000 State Pass-through CARES Act Funds)

* CSA will also reallocate the $150,000 in administrative costs back to the program.

$3,843,916*
Expanded portable restrooms and hand-washing stations in response to COVID-19 from March to June 2021.

$205,000
CSA for grocery store gift card program in response to COVID-19.

$144,800
CSA for COVID-19 Response Team.

$30,000
County Isolation and Quarantine program for motel services.

$141,000
TOTAL: $4,399,716
_____________________
* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects .

In addition to the funds for homeless programs and associated services, the City has funded limited-period specific health and safety enforcement activities noted in the table below for funding over a two-year period unless noted as a rebudget (Fiscal Years 2018-19 and 2019-20). The Police Community Outreach Officer is noted above since a large part of this officer’s time is devoted to homeless outreach.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Item City
Contribution
Biohazard waste cleanup and homeless encampment.

$40,000
Pilot program to assist in the towing of older vehicles with biohazard or hazardous material clean-up issues and excess traffic violations.

$70,000
Flexible funding for enforcement needs associated with the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance portion of fund balance rebudgeted for Fiscal Year 2020-21 and Fiscal Year 2021-22).

$100,000
Extra hourly funding for police enforcement.

$40,000
TOTAL: $250,000

State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investment

As shown in the table below, the City and its partners have generated over $22.4 million from 2016 through Fiscal Year 2021 -22 in grants and donations to serve the needs of homeless and unstably housed residents.

State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investments Nearly $23 million in investment*
Item Nonprofit/ Private
Contribution
Google grant to Destination: Home for homeless
prevention in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.

$1,000,000
Alta Housing agreement for the Terra Bella lot use and
in-kind project and contract management.

~$30,000 (in-kind staff)
In-kind lease value
LinkedIn and Google grants to MOVE Mountain View for
safe parking services.

$15,000 (LinkedIn)
$25,000 (Google)
Los Altos United Methodist Church upgrades for cold-
weather shelter at Hope’s Corner.

$86,600
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investments Nearly $23 million in investment*
Item Nonprofit/ Private
Contribution
Hope’s Corner/Los Altos United Methodist Church
construction of Fellowship Hall laundry and commercial
kitchen facilities for Job Train Culinary Training program.

$1.8 million (since 2016)
Hope’s Corner meals and associated services (55% to 60% of participants are from Mountain View).

~$619,425 (approximate
operating cost since 2016)
CSA wraparound services for homeless and unstably
housed persons.

$73,565
CSA rental assistance during COVID-19 (from
#TogetherMV and other sources, above and beyond
funding from the City).

$1,200,000
LifeMoves Mountain View land acquisition and
construction costs for Project Homekey interim housing
site (State, City, County, and philanthropic funding
sources).

$17,000,000
LifeMoves contribution to operating costs for LifeMoves Mountain View.

$640,000
TOTAL: $22,489,590

County Investment

The table below shows the City’s continued work with Santa Clara County to secure funding commitments for the Mountain View community, resulting in over $40.8 million in funding (includes funds committed but not expended). This funding is in large part based on coordination of opportunities with the County. There is no set County allocation of funds for cities.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Item
Nearly $8 million in investment* County
Contributions Facilities and Programs
Hope Street and Mercy Street resource center construction.

$500,000
Capital Improvement Funds via Housing Trust.

$190,000
Balance of no -interest bridge loan from the County to Hope’s Corner until City -granted Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project were paid in May 2021 (see details about the City’s contribution to Hope’s Corner).

$30,000
Culinary skills job training at Hope’s Corner (3.5 years of funding).

$342,000
Homeless cold-weather shelter (4 years of funding).

$1,327,797
Continuation of shelter at Trinity United Methodist Church due to COVID-19 (shut down due to COVID-19 in June 2020; program extended from March 2020 through May 31, 2020).

$286,830
MOVE Mountain View Safe Parking Program (two years of
funding) (all sites through June 30, 2021).

$1,215,911
CSA for Mountain View Outreach (4 years of funding).

$411,087
Homeless Outreach Team, focus areas include North County starting March 2019 (one-time, 18-month funding).

$600,000
Mountain View-dedicated Permanent Supportive Housing
subsidies (clients receiving Mountain View-funded contracted case management), Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.

$1,023,428
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Item
Nearly $8 million in investment* County
Contributions Facilities and Programs
Mountain View-affiliated† Permanent Supportive Housing
subsidies (clients from Mountain View receiving case management funded by other sources, not the City contract), Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.

† Affiliation is defined as a location where an individual works, goes to school, or spends most of their time, or if they lived there prior to homelessness.

$2,029,728
TOTAL: $7,956,781
_____________________
* This figure does not reflect County funding of Affordable Housing projects . The County of Santa Clara also intends to match the City’s commitment and provide $2.4 million in funding for LifeMoves Mountain View, pending approval of the Board of Supervisors.

Affordable Housing Investment

The table below shows the City’s ongoing investment as a regional leader in developing and funding affordable housing. As noted earlier in this memorandum, the City has approximately 1, 500 affordable housing units. Approximately 15,000 rental units are rent-protected under the Community Stabilization and Fair Rent Act voter initiative adopted in 2016. In addition, there are approximately 750 affordable units in the pipeline.

Affordable Housing Funding

County and City funding for certain affordable housing developments in Mountain View are noted below since a portion of the units will house homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

Project County
Funding
City
Funding
Projects In Pipeline
Funding for affordable rental units, La Avenida
Apartments (1100 La Avenida).
$19,000,000*
*Note that this has
been committed, but
not expended

$15,000,000
Funding
reserved
Financing for affordable rental units, Linda Vista Site (1012 Linda Vista Avenue).
$3,633,750
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Affordable Housing Funding

County and City funding for certain affordable housing developments in Mountain View are noted below since a portion of the units will house homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

Project County
Funding
City
Funding

Financing for affordable rental units, Montecito
Apartments (1265 Montecito Avenue).

$16,000,000
Recently Constructed and Under-Construction Projects
Financing for affordable rental units, Luna Vista
Apartments (950 West El Camino Real).

$4,044,000 $22,772,844
Construction funding for Shorebreeze Apartments
Expansion.

$8,157,608
Construction funding for affordable rental units,
Evelyn Family Apartments.

$21,700,000
Construction funding for affordable rental units, Eagle Park Apartments (1701 West El Camino Real).

$4,000,000 $8,000,000
Construction funding for affordable rental units,
1585 Studios (1585 West El Camino Real).

$2,207,811 $3,452,000
Construction funding for affordable rental units,
Studio 819 Apartments (819 North Rengstorff Avenue).

$8,952,623
TOTAL: $32,885,561 $104,035,075

RENTAL ASSISTANCE

City-Funded Rental Assistance

Rental assistance is an important tool used as a part of preventing homelessness. On December 15, 2015, Council first approved funding in the amount of $150,000 for a rental assistance program administered by CSA. The intent of the program is to help ten ants Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

stabilize their living situations in the event of a steep and/or unexpected rent increase.

To increase the use of the rent assistance program, in March 2018, the program was modified to be more flexible, and $70,000 of the original funding amount was reprogrammed.

In March 2020, Council approved the Mountain View COVID -19 Rent Relief Program (C-19RRP) to be administered by CSA and , since then , Council has approved nearly $4 million toward the program . As of June 2021, the program has provided rental assistance to over 1,100 households. The program provides up to $3,000 of rental assistance per month for up to three months to qualifying Mountain View tenants impacted by COVID -19. CSA administers the program. CSA has also received $1.2 million in pr ivate contributions, including funding from the #TogetherMV community campaign launched by the City (as described below). CSA will also reallocate $150,000 in administrative costs back to the program.

In addition, on June 22, 2021, Council adopted the Fi scal Year 2021 -22 Budget, which included allocating $1 million to CSA to include $750,000 in direct financial assistance and $250,000 to be used at CSA’s discretion to fund priority needs as CSA deems appropriate (noted in the Recommended Budget as direct assistance, rent relief, discretionary uses, etc.).

Regarding tenant protection measures, at the end of June, the State of California extended the Statewide eviction moratorium and increased rental assistance for households financially affected by COVID-19. The COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act (Assembly Bill 832) provides eviction protections for residential tenants experiencing COVID -19 financial hardship. As a result, residential tenants are protected from eviction due to nonpayment of rent between March 1, 2020 and September 30, 2021. All residential properties in Mountain View are covered by the eviction moratorium. The California COVID-19 Rent Relief Program will help income-eligible households financially impacted by COVID -19 pay rent and utilities, both for past-due and future payments. Tenants and landlords can apply for assistance through this program. To qualify, tenants must make 80% or less than the Area Median Income (AMI), and tenants making less than 50% of the AMI are prioritized.

Extremely low-income Santa Clara County residents financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic can receive help paying rent through the Santa Clara County Homelessness Prevention System. This program helps households with an income of up to 30% of the AMI ($34,800 for a one-person household; $49,700 for a four -person household).

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Over the past year, City staff has completed extensive outreach in coordination with the Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos, Project Sentinel, the Community in Action Team (CAT), community ambassadors from the Spanish Leadership Academy, and the Mountain View Whisman School District and Mountain View Los Altos High School District to reach most vulnerable households. Initiatives to help people apply for COVID -19 emerg ency rent relief programs and learn about COVID-19 eviction protections include : hosting joint in-person and virtual events with community partners and the County of Santa Clara, creating and distributing a variety of communication materials, and regular updates to the website in three languages. More information about City, County , and State programs is available at www.mountainview.gov/covid19housingrelief.

#TogetherMV

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City launched the #TogetherMV campaign to support renters as well as small businesses in need in Mountain View. Staff worked with the Los Altos Community Foundation to create the #TogetherMV web donation portal, which has raised $98,737 in funds for rental assistance as of June 2021.

INTERIM HOUSING

LifeMoves Mountain View (Project HomeKey)

In May 2021, the City celebrated the opening of a new modern, modular, supportive interim housing community, in partnership with LifeMoves , Silicon Valley’s largest provider of interim housing and supportive services for those experiencing homelessness, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the County of Santa Clara, private philanthropies, and private -sector donors, including Google and LinkedIn. This project opened just months after being granted HomeKey funds in October 2020 as part of the State’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

Located at 2566 Leghorn Street, LifeMoves Mountain View help s people experiencing homelessness transition to permanent housing through case management and housing location services. The site features innovative private modular units for 100 households with beds for approximately 124 people. The program is uniquely focused on the need s of clients and their well -being. The site includes ample space for case management meetings, dining, recreation, laundry, and even dog kennels. At LifeMoves, every individual or family has a private room, heating, and air conditioning with a front door that locks. LifeMoves connects clients to primary and behavioral health care, safety net and supportive services, and other benefits and provides job placement resources, classes Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

on subjects, such as parenting and financial literacy, and a wide array of other services.

Clients are anticipated to stay for 90 to 120 days and begin the path to more permanent housing.

Clients are admitted by referral only through the County. Priority will be given to individuals referred from the local area by qualified E mergency Assistance Network providers, including CSA and MVPD NES. At full occupancy, the site is anticipated to provide immediate shelter to over 350 people experiencing homelessness in Mountain View and the local area per year.

Early Data on LifeMoves Mountain View Residents

LifeMoves continues to ramp up to full capacity through a phased occupancy and has served 68 clients from 58 households as of June 15, 2021.

• Twenty-six (26) of the clients were staying in an emergency shelter prior to transitioning to the interim housing community, and 39 were in an unsheltered location, which includes living in vehicles.

• Thirty-four (34) of the clients have reported being in their prior living situation for a year or longer, 16 clients for 90 days or more but less than a year, and 15 clients for one month or more but fewer than 90 days.

• All clients have a Mountain View affiliation.

• Five clients are children, and 31 clients are above the age of 55. Seven clients have self-identified as Asian, 10 as African American, three as American Indian or Alaska Native, three as multi-racial, and for three clients, data has not been collected or the client does not know.

• Twenty-nine ( 29) clients identify as female, 38 as male , and one as gender nonconforming.

• Forty-three (43) of 68 clients have reported having a disability.

• Thirty-three (33) of the 58 households receive a monthly incom e from any source , with seven households repor ting a monthly income in the $1 to $ 499 range, 19 households in the $500 to $1,499 range, and seven households reported an income of $1,500 or above. Twenty-five (25) households have reported receiving non cash benefits.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

The Temporary Certificate of Occupancy for the 12 family units was signed on June 22, 2021, and the family units will be filled promptly.

Crestview Hotel

On January 26, 2021, the City Council unanimously supported partnering with the County of Santa Clara to explore the concept of converting Crestview Hotel (901 E ast El Camino Real) into a residential use to meet various housing needs and priorities, including for unstably housed persons and families. The purpose of this Council meeting was to provide an opportunity for early input from the community and for Council to provide initial direction regarding this housing concept.

As this housing opportunity is early in the process, the concepts discussed (such as housing needs, City/County roles, funding opportunities, programming, and process) during the Council meeting were at a high level. Details are being developed as the process moves forward and is informed by community input. The first Community Outreach Meeting took place on March 30, 2021 via Zoom. Staff continues to work with the County while the County is currently completing its due diligence process and is in negotiation with the hotel owner. The next community meeting will be held on August 19, 2021 , and noticing is under way. More information is available at www.mountainview.gov/crestview.

SAFE PARKING

Safe Parking Capacity

The City has been instrumental in : supporting the formation of a local, nonprofit , safe parking provider (MOVE Mountain View); launching small , safe parking programs at faith-based locations; adopting a Safe Parking Ordinance to facilitate the creation of safe parking locations on private lots; securing three dedicated safe parking lots; partner ing with the County of Santa Clara to provide safe parking and a range of other services to support unstably housed residents on a path to permanent housing; and growing to become the largest safe parking provider in the region with the capacity for up to 101 vehicles (includes both faith-based lots).

Currently, four sites are in operation (three City-secured and one faith/congregation lot) and do not include one of the two faith-based programs, which has been on hiatus. Sites that are in operation are at or near capacity, with a total of 155 participants living in 76 vehicles. A majority of the participants are families and are residing in oversized Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

vehicles, such as RVs. A comprehensive safe parking update was provided at the June 8, 2021 Council meeti ng (Attachment 2). Council took action to extend the 24/7 safe parking operation for City -secured sites and authorized the associated agreements for implementation.

COVID-19 CRISIS RESPONSE

The City has worked proactively to address the needs of the hom eless and residents living in vehicles during the COVID-19 crisis. While there are not sufficient resources to meet the magnitude of the need, the intent has been to identify emerging needs as quickly as possible and work closely with the City’s collabora tors (the County’s Office of Supportive Housing, CSA, Hope’s Corner, MOVE Mountain View, and others) to develop solutions and provide as much assistance as possible.

County Response

Over the past year, the County has increased its temporary shelter capa city, including hotel/motel beds and congregate shelters, by an additional 641 beds. As of April 2021, there were 2,713 total beds available in Santa Clara County. The County has also expanded its homelessness prevention efforts to cover approximately 14,797 households and has contributed nearly $35.9 million over the period March 2020 through February 2021. Through the Supportive Housing Programs, the County has assisted 14,392 households including Homelessness Prevention efforts, during the period of March 2020 through April 2021, with 2,256 households transitioning to permanent housing during the same period.

The County does periodic updates on all programs that show cities’ participation as a part of their Annual Report(s). The most recent report available at this time is as of 2018, and more information can be found at: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/yes/tools/ interactivemap/Pages/home.aspx.

The table below from t he County shows cold -weather shelters, domestic violence shelters, emergency shelters, and interim housing by city. This data was collected in February 2021.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Cold-
Weather
Shelter
Domestic
Violence
Shelter,
Emergency
Shelters
Emergency
Shelters
Interim
Emergency
Shelters
Interim
Housing Grand Total
Confidential 45 45
East Palo Alto 5 5
Gilroy 68 18 40 126
Mountain View 23 8 31
Palo Alto 20 20
San Jose 30 989 274 324 1,617
Milpitas 47 47
Santa Clara 6 6
South County 4 4
Sunnyvale 77 57 134
Unknown 6 6
TOTAL: 121 63 1,115 274 468 2,041

Isolation and Quarantine Program Services

Rental assistance and support services continues to be available to Mountain View residents who have tested positive for COVID-19 or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive. In January 2021, Council approved a funding agreement with the County at a total cost of $141,000 for motel accommodations for Mountain View residents for the period of September 25, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Funding covers the cost of those accommodations plus the City’s allocated share for the Medical Team and County Placement Team, which provides support for and coordination of the program.

• Forty-four (44) residents have used the isolation and quarantine program services , of which 34 had tested positive and 10 were exposed to COVID-19.

• Thirty-eight ( 38) residents were housed but unable to isolate or quarantine themselves, and six were homeless.

Outreach/Communications

Outreach and communications using all channels is a vital part of the response plan. The City’s Police Outreach Team has disseminated information in both English and Spanish directly to individuals and has placed flyers on vehicles believed to be used for housing.

This information has also been distributed to community-based providers.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

The City’s Multicultural Engagement Program continues its outreach to, and engagement with, the City’s Spanish -, Mandarin -, and Russian -speaking residents to understand concerns and provide frequent updates and referrals to assistance.

For individuals with digital/cellular access, the City has widely communicated the option to get COVID -19 updates by texting “MVCOVID” to 22828, visiting the City’s website at MountainView.gov/COVID (updated to City News and Services Updates MountainView.gov/CityHallConnection), following City Hall on social media through twitter.mountainview.gov, facebook.mountainview.gov, MountainView.gov/ Instagram, and subscribing to MountainView.gov/YouTube. In addition, a digital map of services, including restrooms, wash stations, WiFi, food services, and medical care, is available on the City website at MountainView.gov/COVIDHomelessServicesMap.

During the period of March 2020 through April 2021, the Police Outreach Team has distributed approximately:

• 3,600 informational flyers;

• 530 donated hygiene kits;

• 278 donated dry food bags; and

• 1,325 grocery gift cards ($50).

Local Response Coordination and Support

The City has continuously collaborated with the local emergency assistance network, nonprofit organizations (CSA, MOVE Mountain View, Hope’s Corner, D ay Worker Center of Mountain View, LifeMoves, Fight the Hate Ministry , and Reach Potential Movement), and government agencies to combine and leverage resources to help as many people in need as possible with continual sharing of multilingual content and resources. Data highlights for the period March 2020 through April 2021 include:

• Weekly coordination calls through June 2020 and an ongoing biweekly call since July 2020; and

• 18,300 masks and 250 face shields distributed.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Launch of Day Worker Center Minivan Outreach Pilot Program

In March 2021, the Day Worker Center (DWC) in Mountain View launched a COVID-19 response effort to reach the most vulnerable members of our community to provide resources and information. The new minivan outreach program is being piloted under its Workers Initiative Secure Encountering (WISE) Project. The program is intended to provide vital information, masks, hand saniti zer, etc., from the mobile minivan. It will be staffed by Spanish-speaking staff from the DWC, and all resources will be free.

The pilot program aims to help address some access issues for those without access to the internet or cell phones or who face literacy challenges. The program visits high-traffic sites to help residents get access to information in-person in a socially distanced way.

This is not a City or County program, but the City and County via Supervisor Simitian’s office are assisting in providing information, resources, such as masks and sanitizer, and links to community connections. Additionally, the program has been connected to Valley Medical Center Foundation, which is serving as the collection point for COVID-19-related donations, such as masks and sanitizers, in Santa Clara County.

Grocery and Essential Needs Gift Card Programs

The City also established a temporary grocery store gift card program to address COVID-19 impacts. This is managed by CSA and is similar to other programs run by CSA for clients in need of food services who meet certain income requirements and are enrolled in CSA client services and/or safe parking. The program provides gift cards in the amount of $25 per week (to be used for food only) to assist up to 100 clients. Data highlights for the grocery store gift card program that concluded in December 2020 show:

• 448 gift cards provided;

• 93 individuals served; and

• 54 households served.

Gift cards have been a successful tool to assist residents in need during the pandemic. In January 2021, the City Council approved an additional $94,800 to provide a gif t card program for grocery and other essential needs. The program is being coordinated by CSA and approximately 3,792 grocery store gift cards of $25 each are available to distribute through seven organizations who are currently actively assisting Mountai n View residents with food and other basic, essential needs during the pandemic. The organizations/programs include Hope’s Corner, MOVE Mountain View, LifeMoves, Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Day Worker Center, Fight the Hate Ministry Grocery Bag Program, St. Athanasius food distribution program, Second Harvest, and Reach Potential Movement.

Sanitation and Hygiene Plan

The City and nonprofit provider MOVE Mountain View have already established hand- washing stations, fixed or portable restrooms, drinking water, and garbage service for all safe parking lots in Mountain View. In addition, within 10 days of Shelter -in-Place Orders going into effect, the City secured two portable Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) restrooms and six hand-wash stations and placed them at high-need locations. In April, an additional six portable ADA restrooms and five hand-wash stations were placed across the City. The current units will be available through September 2021 as part of the transition to the reopening of the local economy and facilities across the City (subject to change in pandemic conditions). Data highlights are noted below:

• Seven portable restrooms and hand-wash stations are currently available for public use; and

• Twelve (12) portable restrooms and hand -wash stations continue to be available at the safe parking lots for safe parking participants.

Mobile and/or Fixed Showers

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the showers and laundry services located at Hope’s Corner were temporarily closed as of June 2020, and services resumed in Marc h 2021. Data highlights for services provided in March and April 2021 indicate:

• 143 showers provided;

• 72 unduplicated clients served for showers;

• 28 laundry services provided; and

• 21 unduplicated clients served for laundry services.

The City was instrumental in securing additional mobile shower services from Dignity on Wheels at CSA, which started June 9, 2020. The City provided $35,000 in funding to expand mobile shower services from the existing one 3 -hour session per week to two 4-hour sessions per week. With the increase in services and increased needs, nearly Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

110 unduplicated clients have been served on average each month. Services provided for the period August 2020 through April 2021 indicate:

• 1,136 showers provided; and

• 272 laundry loads.

In April 2021, the County also began offering mobile shower services from Dignity on Wheels at the City’s safe parking lots on Shoreline Lot B and the Evelyn Avenue lot for the safe parking participants. Fifteen (15) showers and two laundr y load services were provided at the single session held in April. These services supplement the fixed showers and laundry services that were restarted in April at Hope’s Corner.

In addition, the County and the County’ s partners also provide shower servi ces at a number of locations throughout the County. The City and other providers have distributed information about where people can access showers.

Mobile Medical Unit

To meet the increased medical needs of the homeless/unstably housed, staff collaborated with the County Public Health Department and their Valley Homeless Healthcare Program (VHHP) team to plan for Mobile Medical Unit (MMU) services in Mountain View. In March 2020, the City Council approved the use of downtown Parking Lot 7, adjacent to Hope’s Corner, during the COVID -19 crisis for MMU services one day per week from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. An amendment was subsequently made to refine the list of locations serviced by the MMU, providing for: medical van visits for the County - leased safe parking lots on the first (Evelyn lot) and second (Shoreline) Thursdays of every month, from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; MMU visits at downtown Parking Lot 7 every third Thursday of the month from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.; MMU visits at Rengstorff Park (until the end of June) barbecue area parking lot on the fourth Thursday of every month from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.; and backpack/street medicine (not site -specific) program operations when there is a fifth Thursday in the month. The MMU is also anticipated to begin visits to LifeMoves Mountain View, which just opened in May 2021. Program data shows:

• 302 visits made by the team from August 2020 through April 2021 and 121 patients served.

The VHHP team also provided increased services to North County during the COVID-19 pandemic, including regular surveillance COVID-19 swabbing during the monthly MMU Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

visits to the County -leased safe parking lots, Rengstorff Park barbecue area parking lot, and downtown Parking Lot 7. If positive COVID-19 cases were identified, VHHP offered isolation in motels specifically designated for COVID -19-positive individuals and provided medical care throughout their isolation period. In addition, VHHP provided a number of North County elderly and those with chronic conditions motel rooms to protect them from COVID-19 exposure at a number of motels across the County. VHHP continued to follow these clients’ health care throughout their hotel stay via either telehealth or an on-site medical mobile unit.

VHHP also provides “street medi cine” outreach to various encampments in North County or outreach to individuals with chronic medical conditions. Partnerships with local community agencies allowed for coordination of care and collaboration, including Hope’s Corner and MOVE Mountain View . Additional services that VHHP provided during the pandemic included: VI -SPDAT surveys, medical transportation for individuals, assistance with medical applications, in-person care for acute medical issues, and telehealth for psychiatry and counseling services.

City WiFi and Nonprofit Power Banks

The City has communicated all City -provided WiFi locations in its regular information packet distribution, both via flyer and in the online resource map. Hope’s Corner is providing solar cell chargers for laptops and cell phones, power banks, and solar panels to the vulnerable population in Mountain View and organizations and recharges their devices. The Hope’s Corner Program highlights between April 2020 and April 2021 are below:

• 151 power stations and 13 solar panels distributed; and

• 1,776 solar phone chargers and 381 solar laptop chargers provided.

The City has also shared information on Comcast , other providers have low -income programs, and the State has the LifeLine program. The City has been in conversation with the school districts regarding access for homeless students. Children who need to remotely access schoolwork can connect with their district’s McKinney Vento liaison to arrange WiFi access.

Food Access/Services

The City approved several modifications to maintain and enhance food services programs. Staff worked with CSA as they shifted the operation of the Senior Nutrition Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Program at the Senior Center to a drive-up model. The City approved the shift in Hope’s Corner’s Wednesday lunch and Saturday breakfast services to a drive-through service at downtown Parking Lot 7. Staff also worked with Second Harvest to move their Tuesday food distribution to a drive-through model when Shelter-in-Place began. In addition, the City added Thursdays for Second Harvest to have volunteers pick up food from the Senior Center parking lot for delivery to homebound community members instead of the volunteers coming on Tuesdays at the same time as the general public.

The Community Services Department created a multilingual chart of all available food sources, including details of days, times, and organization contact details, and staff regularly updates the online resource map. CSA and Hope’s Corner also coordinate meetings of other community food providers to ensure information on services is up to date.

Data highlights about food programs for the period August 2020 through April 2021 are below:

CSA

• 1,000 meals per week on average for the Senior Nutrition Program;

• 65 food bag deliveries per week to clients receiving case management services;

• 300 food bags per week through the food and nutrition center; and

• Food deliveries to 116 homes of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Hope’s Corner

• Over 29,950 meals served for the period August 2020 through April 2021;

• Average 213 lunches served each Wednesday and 276 meals each Saturday;

• 75 meals for day workers at the Day Worker Center of Mountain View on Wednesdays and Saturdays each; and

• 75 meals delivered to RV residents at five locations in Mountain View on Wednesdays and Saturdays each.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Other notable efforts by Hope’s Corner include facilitating the following efforts in response to COVID-19:

• Two County walk-up COVID-19 vaccination days;

• Free haircut days;

• Free flu shot clinics;

• Distributed bicycles provided by Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange; and

• Partnered with a new nonprofit started by Hope’s Corner volunteers, The United Effort, who have:

— Provided assistance filing for stimulus checks and have so far helped 158 unhoused and very-low-income people to submit either nonfilers or Form 1040 to get their stimulus payments, the vast majority of which are in the amount of $3,200 each. One hundred twenty-six (126) of these filings have been accepted by the IRS;

— Provided assistance signing clients up for CalFresh, MediCal, General Assistance, In -Home Supportive Service (IHSS), VTA paratransit pass, and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC);

— Assisted clients with SSI, SSDI, housing search, etc., in collaboration with pro bono law firms, clients’ social workers, and case managers of other organizations; and

— Provided donated laptops and tablets.

Second Harvest Food Bank’s Brown Bag Program

• In March 2020, 441 households were provided groceries from Second Harvest at the Mountain View Senior Center. In April 2021, 667 unique households received groceries. Conservatively, that is over a 50% increase in households served compared to the start of the pandemic.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Homeless/Unstably Housed Residents Vaccination Efforts

The County of Santa Clara’s VHHP provides health-care services to people experiencing homelessness in Santa Clara County. As a p art of the County’s COVID -19 response, VHHP medical teams have been distributing vaccines to the homeless in Mountain View on a rolling basis, based on vaccine availability. This is part of their Countywide ongoing backpack/street medicine program operations where they provide targeted outreach and medical assistance to the homeless. This supplements the regular visits of the mobile medical units to Mountain View facilities discussed earlier.

• As of April 2021, the County Public Health Department and their VHHP team have administered 190 vaccine shots to the City’s homeless/unstably housed residents.

Future Steps for Human Services

In the Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget adoption, a new Human Services Manager position was approved, allowing the development of a Human Services Division within the City Manager’s Office. This division will further the development of policy recommendations and response strategies and coordinate with community-based organizations, nonprofits, and intergovernmental partners to a ssist the homeless, unstably housed , and other vulnerable residents through housing services, mental health services , and other basic needs and human services.

Priority areas of focus will include:

• Support for the three direct assistance initiatives approved by the City Council in the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Budget:

— Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) Fund pilot initiative, which would allocate $1 million to provide a monthly payment to a specified number of Mountain View residents for a one-year period.

— The Solidarity Fund initiative, which is allocating $1 million for distribution to Mountain View residents in need by a community-based group known as the Fondo de Solidaridad de Mountain View/Mountain View Solidarity Fund (Solidarity Fund). The Solidar ity Fund represents a concept of community - based, participatory grant -making and trust -based philanthropy, in which diverse community representatives are engaged in both the design and delivery of funding to some of the most economically disadvantaged individuals and families in the City.

Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

— CSA Fund initiative, which is allocating $1 million to CSA to enhance its ability to provide a broad range of financial assistance to the community, including , but not limited to , help with maintaining housing (rent, m ortgage, utilities, etc.), assistance with vehicle repairs, transportation access, medical, dental and eye care assistance, and other challenging costs, such as funeral expenses.

• Coordination of the mental/behavioral health initiatives like the Communit y Mobile Response (CMR) Program, the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) , and collaboration with the Community Services Department in implementing the youth wellness action plan.

• Coordination with the City Child -Care Center (operated by AbilityPath) for payment of tuition subsidies for low-income Mountain View families.

• Administration of the City’s local minimum wage and support for the City’s Wage Theft Ordinance currently under development.

• Coordination with th e Community Development and Finance and Administrative Services Departments in the administration of General Fund p ublic service grant agreement for nonprofit agencies serving Mountain View residents.

CONCLUSION

The programs discussed in this memorandum are funded for short -term COVID -19 response and the homeless and safe parking programs for Fiscal Year 2021-22. Ongoing program updates continue to be available at the webpage mountainview.gov/homeless.

KST-HR/6/MGR
613-08-04-21M

Attachments: 1. Council Memorandum—October 30, 2020

2. Council Report—June 8, 2021

3. HRC Subcommittee Report

cc: Alta Housing
Bill Wilson Center
Community Services Agency (CSA)
COVID-19 CBO Team
Human Services Division—Update on Initiatives to
Assist Homeless and Unstably Housed Residents
August 4, 2021

Destination: Home
Dignity on Wheels (DOW)
Fight the Hate Ministry food distribution program
HomeFirst
Homeless/Safe Parking Teams
Hope’s Corner
Human Relations Commission
LifeMoves
Live Nation
Los Altos United Methodist Church
Mountain View Day Worker Center
MOVE Mountain View
New Directions—A Program of Peninsula Healthcare Connections Other CBOs and stakeholder/volunteers
Reach Potential Movement
Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County Housing Authority
Second Harvest
St. Athanasius Food Distribution Program
Valley Homeless Healthcare Program

Department Heads, Communications Division, Human Services Division Attachment 2
MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 1 of 7

INVESTMENT SUMMARY
City Investment (2016-22)
Nearly $11 Million in City Investment*
Item City
Contribution
County supportive housing, including Rapid Rehousing, outreach, and case management programs (5.5 years of funding).
$1,117,500
County costs associated with 24/7 safe parking and expansion of safe parking spaces at existing lots, including related services (4 years of funding for Fiscal Years 2019-22).
$890,000
MOVE Mountain View Safe Parking Program (2 years of funding for Fiscal Years 2018-19 and 2019-20).
_____________________________
* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects. ** Direct funding has been completed by the City. The City now contracts with the County for MOVE Mountain View’s ongoing operations.
$275,550**
Community Services Agency (CSA) outreach, case management, hygiene services, and vehicle repair (4 years of funding).
$190,875
Alta Housing to prepare the Terra Bella safe parking lot. $97,951 Health and Safety (4 years of funding for a portable restroom at Rengstorff Park).
$98,000
Police Community Outreach Officer (5 years of funding). $1,060,600 Renovation of Quetzal House shelter. $50,000
LifeMoves for shelter and support services to assist the homeless and renovation of the Graduate House shelter (5 years of CDBG and General Fund funding).
$167,892
CSA for Homeless Prevention initiatives (6 years of CDBG and General Fund funding. Includes funding under Alpha Omega program and Homeless Prevention programs).
$210,623

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 2 of 7
City Investment (2016-22)
Nearly $11 Million in City Investment*
Item City
Contribution
CSA for Seniors program (6 years of CDBG funding).

$142,166
CSA for Rental Assistance program (Below-Market-Rate (BMR) funds allocated in Fiscal Year 2018-19).
$70,000
CSA Emergency Assistance (CDBG funds allocated in Fiscal Year 2016-17).

$24,019
CSA funding assistance (Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project disbursed in May 2021).

$170,000
Hope’s Corner for renovation of their commercial kitchen (CDBG funds and Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project).

$361,784
MayView Community Health Center for primary health -care services for uninsured and underinsured residents (4 years of CDBG and General Fund funding).

$198,039
The Health Trust for Meals on Wheels (4 years of funding via General Fund allocation).

$131,180
TOTAL: $5,256,179

Programs Funded in Response to COVID-19 through June 2022 CSA expanded shower services during COVID‑19. $35,000
CSA Rent Relief program for addressing impacts due to COVID-19 (includes $100,000 General Non-Operating Funds, $500,000 State Pass-through CARES Act Funds, and $800,000 from CSA’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 flexible funding).

$4,643,916
Expanded portable restrooms and hand-washing stations in response to COVID-19 from March 2020 to June 2022.

$264,000
CSA for grocery store gift card program in response to COVID-19.

$144,800

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 3 of 7
City Investment (2016-22)
Nearly $11 Million in City Investment*
Item City
Contribution
CSA for COVID-19 Response Team.

$30,000
County Isolation and Quarantine program for motel services.

$141,000
TOTAL: $5,258,716
* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects.

Limited-Period Specific Health and Safety Enforcement City Contribution Biohazard waste cleanup and homeless encampment.

$40,000
Pilot program to assist in the towing of older vehicles with biohazard or hazardous material clean-up issues and excess traffic violations.

$70,000
Flexible funding for enforcement needs associated with the Oversized Vehicle Ordinance (fund balance carried forward for use in Fiscal Years 2020-21 and 2021-22).

$100,000
Extra hourly funding for Police enforcement.

$40,000
TOTAL: $250,000

State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investments Nearly $24 million in Investment*

* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects.

Item Nonprofit/Private
Contribution
Google grant to Destination: Home for homeless prevention in Mountain View and Sunnyvale.

$1,000,000
Alta Housing agreement for Terra Bella lot use and in-kind project and contract management.

~$30,000 (in-kind staff)
In-kind lease value
LinkedIn and Google grants to MOVE Mountain View for safe parking services.
$15,000 (LinkedIn)
$25,000 (Google)

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 4 of 7
State, Nonprofit, and Philanthropic Private Investments Nearly $24 million in Investment*

* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects.

Item Nonprofit/Private
Contribution

Los Altos United Methodist Church upgrades for cold-weather shelter at Hope’s Corner.

$86,600
Hope’s Corner/Los Altos United Methodist Church construction of Fellowship Hall laundry and commercial kitchen facilities for Job Train Culinary Training program.

$1.8 million (since 2016)
Hope’s Corner meals and associated services (55% to 60% of participants are from Mountain View).

~$738,824 (approximate
operating cost since 2016)
CSA wraparound services for homeless and unstably housed persons.

$170,652
CSA rental assistance during COVID-19 (from #TogetherMV and other sources, above and beyond funding from the City; as of June 2022, #TogetherMV had raised $119,323 in webportal donations).

$2,076,244
LifeMoves Mountain View land acquisition and construction costs for Project Homekey interim housing site (State, City, County, and philanthropic funding sources).

$17,000,000
LifeMoves contribution to operating costs for LifeMoves Mountain View.

$640,000
TOTAL: $23,582,320

* This figure does not reflect City funding of Affordable Housing projects

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 5 of 7
Item
Nearly $11.5 million in Investment* County
Contributions
(2016-2022) Facilities and Programs
Hope Street and Mercy Street resource center construction.

$500,000
Capital Improvement Funds via Housing Trust.

$190,000
Balance of no-interest bridge loan from the County to Hope’s Corner until City-granted Community Benefit Funds from the 600 Clyde Avenue project were paid in May 2021 (see details about the City’s contribution to Hope’s Corner).

$30,000
Culinary skills job training at Hope’s Corner (3.5 years of funding).

$774,169
Homeless cold-weather shelter (4 years of funding).

$1,612,856
Continuation of shelter at Trinity United Methodist Church due to COVID-19 (shutdown due to COVID-19 in June 2020; program extended from March 2020 through May 31, 2020).

$286,830
MOVE Mountain View Safe Parking Program (two years of funding; all sites through June 30, 2021).

$2,290,585
CSA for Mountain View Outreach (4 years of funding).

$521,635
Homeless Outreach Team, focus areas include North County starting March 2019 (one-time, 18-month funding).

$600,000
Mountain View-dedicated Permanent Supportive Housing subsidies (clients receiving Mountain View-funded contracted case management), Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.

$1,460,302
Mountain View-affiliated† Permanent Supportive Housing subsidies (clients from Mountain View receiving case management funded by other sources, not the City contract), Fiscal Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.

† Affiliation is defined as a location where an individual works, goes to school, or spends most of their time, or if they lived there prior to homelessness.

$3,191,694
TOTAL:

$11,458,071
* This figure does not reflect County funding of Affordable Housing projects.

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 6 of 7

Affordable Housing Funding

County and City funding for certain affordable housing developments in Mountain View are noted below since a portion of the units will house homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

Project County Funding City
Funding
Projects In Pipeline with Funding Set-Asides
Funding for affordable rental units, La Avenida Apartments (1100 La Avenida)

$19,000,000 $15,000,000
Financing for affordable rental units, Terra Bella Site (1020 Terra Bella Avenue)

$13,500,000
Financing for affordable rental units, Lot 12 $9,750,000 $4,250,000 plus land
Financing for affordable rental units, Montecito Apartments (1265 Montecito Avenue)

$18,000,000 $16,000,000
Financing for permanent supportive housing units,
Crestview Hotel (901 East El Camino Real)

$7,000,000 $5,200,000
Recently Constructed and Under-Construction Projects
Financing for affordable rental units, Luna Vista Apartments (950 West El Camino Real)

$4,044,000 $22,772,844
Construction funding for Shorebreeze Apartments
Expansion

$8,157,608
Construction funding for affordable rental units, Evelyn Family Apartments

$21,700,000
Construction funding for affordable rental units, Eagle Park Apartments (1701 West El Camino Real)

$4,000,000 $8,000,000
Construction funding for affordable rental units,
1585 Studios (1585 West El Camino Real)

$2,207,811 $3,452,000

MS/2/MGR
609-12-15-22Att2 7 of 7
Affordable Housing Funding

County and City funding for certain affordable housing developments in Mountain View are noted below since a portion of the units will house homeless or those at risk of homelessness.

Project County Funding City
Funding
Construction funding for affordable rental units, Studio 819 Apartments (819 North Rengstorff Avenue)

$8,952,623

TOTAL:

$64,001,811 $126,985,075

Attachment 3

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY
KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 1 of 10
Police Community Outreach Metrics
Mountain View Police Department’s Neighborhood Event Services (NES) unit established a Community Outreach Officer position in Fiscal Year 2017-18. In addition to the normal duties of a Police Officer, the Community Outreach Officer acts as a liaison between social service groups and the homeless. The approach of the Community Outreach Officer is to balance compassion with enforcement when problem-solving issues that come up with this vulnerable population.

Metric Fiscal Year 2020-21
Total
Fiscal Year 2021-22
Total
Homeless subjects that have been referred to CSA for assistance. 37 35 Homeless subjects that have been referred to other housing and shelter services.1 30 103 RVs impounded after numerous warnings or multiple citations (five or more unpaid parking citations or violation of the 72-hour ordinance).2 0 0 72-hour violation citations.2 0 0
Homeless individuals or residents living in vehicles that have been arrested (violations include narcotics possession, being under the influence of narcotics, trespassing, and possession of stolen property and various Municipal Code violations). 74 51
Arrests made within the homeless population as a whole. 283 257 Arrests related to vehicle dwellers. 25 11
Arrests related to homeless subjects sleeping on the streets or encampments. 258 246 Encampments removed. 6 9

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 2 of 10
CSA Client Metrics from Housing Problem Solving and Information Referral and Case Management 3,4 CSA provides housing problem solving, information referral and case management services to Mountain View residents.

This program was jointly funded by the City and County until Fiscal Year 2021-22.

The program will be funded by the City for Fiscal Year 2022-23.

Metric Fiscal Year
2020-21 Total
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
Number of Mountain View residents served.

494 701
Number of Mountain View households served.

340 454
• Number of households with minor children.

51 91
MV residents/heads of household served by demographic group:
a. Adults 327

434
b. Seniors 78

99 c. Children 89 168
Percent of MV residents/heads of household served by employment:
a. Not employed5 55% 46%
b. Employed 36% 37%
c. Retired 7% 15%
d. Disabled

2% 2%
Percent of MV residents/heads of household served by Area Median Income (AMI) category a. Extremely low-income (0 to 30% of AMI) 97% 97%
b. Very low-income (30 to 50% of AMI) 3% 3%
County homeless assessments completed. 95 134

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 3 of 10
Homelessness Prevention Program6
The Homelessness Prevention Program aims to provide funds to keep individuals in stable housing to prevent homelessness.

Funding Source Metric Fiscal Year 2020-21 Total Fiscal Year 2021-22 Total County-Funded
Program
Households affiliated with Mountain View7 in
program and kept in stable housing.

149 243
Households affiliated with Mountain View having
minor children.

69 104
Individuals affiliated with Mountain View in
program and kept in stable housing.

361 559
Veterans affiliated with Mountain View in
program and kept in stable housing.

2 4
Households in County in program and kept in
stable housing.

1,899 2,290
Individuals in County in program and kept in
stable housing.

5,539 5,626

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 4 of 10
Rapid Rehousing Program6,8
Rapid Rehousing provides short-term financial assistance and support to quickly rehouse homeless households in their own independent permanent housing.

Funding Source Metric Fiscal Year
2020-21 Total
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
County-Funded
Program
Households affiliated with Mountain View
enrolled in the program.9

82 99
Households affiliated with Mountain View having
minor children.

25 34
Individuals affiliated with Mountain View enrolled
in the program.

136 180
Households affiliated with Mountain View housed
through the program.9

61 69
Individuals affiliated with Mountain View
households housed through the program.

108 133

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 5 of 10
Permanent Supportive Housing10
Permanent Supportive Housing provides longer-term rental assistance, case management, and supportive services to the most vulnerable chronically homeless individuals and families in the community.

Funding
Source Metric Fiscal Year
2020-21 Total
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
County-Funded
Program

Total households in County enrolled (referred
with vouchers for housing).
2,265 2,542
Individuals enrolled. 3,098 3,431
Households housed (number of enrolled with a
move-in date).
2,113 2,352
Individuals housed. 2,885 3,156
Total MV households in County enrolled. 73 86
MV individuals enrolled. 81 95
MV households housed.11 73 80
a. Households having minor children.

3 3
MV individuals housed. 81 88
City-Funded
Program
(Peninsula
Healthcare
Connections,
a.k.a. New
Directions Case
Worker)
Total unduplicated Mountain View-affiliated
households enrolled (referred with vouchers for
housing).
20 20
Individuals enrolled. 35 35
Households housed. 19 19
Individuals housed. 34 34

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 6 of 10
LifeMoves Mountain View (Project Homekey) Client Metrics LifeMoves Mountain View is an interim (temporary) housing12 community with a combination of 100 individual and family units which began operations in May 2021 through funding from Project Homekey, County of Santa Clara, City of Mountain View, LifeMoves, and philanthropic donors.

Metric
Program
Start
through
June 30,
2021
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
Total number of clients served.

82 312
Number of households served.

70 249
• Number of households having minor children

5 24
Clients served by age group:
a. 17 and under 6 38
b. 18 to 24 1 15
c. 25 to 34 5 40
d. 35 to 44 13 55
e. 45 to 54 21 61
f. 55 and above 36 103
Clients served by employment:

a. Employed 15 87
b. Not employed 67 225

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 7 of 10
Metric Program
Start
through
June 30,
2021
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
Clients served by income:

a. $0 to $500 46 151
b. $501 to $1,000 17 42
c. $1,001 to $2,000 13 61
d. $2,001 to $3,000 5 32
e. $3001 and above 1 26
f. Receiving non-cash benefits 38 120
Residence prior to project entry:
a. Emergency shelter, including hotel or motel paid for with emergency shelter voucher, or Runaway and Homeless Youth-funded Host Home shelter

31 88
b. Place not meant for habitation (e.g., a vehicle, an abandoned building, bus/train/subway station/airport, or anywhere outside)
47 184
c. Hotel or motel paid for without emergency shelter voucher 2 14 d. A safe haven 2
e. Transitional housing for homeless persons (including homeless youth) 1 f. Substance abuse treatment facility or detox center 1 g. Long-term care facility or nursing home 1
h. Rental by client, no ongoing housing subsidy 2
i. Rental by client, with other ongoing housing subsidy 1 j. Client refused to disclose 1
k. Staying or living in a family member's room, apartment, or house 1 7 l. Staying or living in a friend's room, apartment, or house 1 10

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 8 of 10
Metric Program
Start
through
June 30,
2021
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
Length of stay in prior living situation:
a. One night or less 5
b. Two to six nights 2 14
c. One week or more, but less than one month 2 27
d. 90 days or more, but less than one year 21 89
e. One month or more, but less than 90 days 15 51
f. One year or longer 42 124
g. Client refused to disclose 1
h. Client does not know 1
Median length of stay (in days) in program. 13.5 97
Total number of program exits. 14 205
Exits to stable/permanent housing.13 6 89
Exits to unstable housing. 4 67
Exits to other. 14 4 49
Clients by gender:
a. Male 46 177
b. Female 35 134
c. Nonbinary 1 1
d. Prefer not to state
Clients by ethnicity:
a. Hispanic/Latino 28 125
b. Non-Hispanic/Non-Latino 54 184

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 9 of 10
Metric Program
Start
through
June 30,
2021
Fiscal Year
2021-22 Total
Clients by race:
a. Asian or Asian American 9 25
b. Black, African American, or African 12 45
c. White 52 176
d. Multi-racial 6 18
e. Native American, Alaska Native, or Indigenous 2 17
f. Data not collected 0 13
g. Client does not know 1 5
Number of clients who are Veterans. 0 13

1. Includes LifeMoves Mountain View (Project Homekey), Abode Services, HomeFirst, and MOVE Mountain View.

2. 72-hour ordinance suspended during local state of emergency declared by the City over the spread of the COVID-19 virus on March 12, 2020, ratified by the City Council on March 17, 2020

3. From April 2017 to Fiscal Year 2019 -20, CSA had a Mobile Outreach program, which linked those living in vehicles in Mountain View to services and housing programs. The City partnered with CSA and the County to provide the Mobile Outreach program. There were 204 County homeless assessments completed and 180 clients enrolled in the CSA vehicle outreach program.

4. CSA continues messaging the importance of seeking more pe rmanent housing to the living in vehicle community and has collaborated with the City on several occasions to temporarily shelter families and individuals when needed. CSA case managers implement Housing P roblem Solving and have embedded this work into th e existing Homeless Services program. Case management has been restructured to meet the increased demand and to triage intensive cases, which may involve housing search, employment search, benefits applications, the first m onth’s and rent and deposit assi stance, while also providing ongoing light -touch case management such as, referrals, hygiene kits, VI SPDAT assessments and monthly check-ins.

5. The percent of clients currently employed has been impacted by multiple reasons, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

6. Participants may be currently processed in multiple programs and data may be overlapping. Destination: Home awarded $3.3 million to Sacred Heart Community Services, which included the $1 million grant from Google targeted for Mountain View and Sunnyvale, for implementing new Homeless Prevention Programs from Fiscal Years 2017-20. They lead a consortium of seven Emergency Assistance Network (EAN) agencies (City

PROGRAMMATIC DATA SUMMARY

KST/2/MGR/609-12-15-22Att3 10 of 10
partner is included) to provide a Homelessness Prevention pilot program. The County also assists individuals Countywide. The grant was completed in Fiscal Year 2019-20.

7. County of Santa Clara program providers define client location by affiliation to include work location, school location, spen ds most of time in location, lived there prior to homelessness, and ZIP code of last address. This is done during the assessment process.

8. The City-funded program was from January to December 2019 with funding of $100,000. From 2017 to 2020, there were:
• 195 Mountain View households enrolled in the program; • 166 Mountain View individuals enrolled in the program; • 128 Mountain View households housed through the program; and • 132 Mountain View individuals housed through the program.

9. The County and service providers track both enrolled and housed. Enrolled means being registered in the program and pending placement in housing but not yet housed.

10. County and Community Services Agency (CSA) programs comply with the broad categories of homelessness as defined by Housing an d Urban Development (HUD).

11. MV household is characterized by household affiliation with the City of Mountain View through one or more of the following:
• Client address
• In which city do you spend most of your time?
• Which city did you live in prior to becoming homeless? • If employed, what city do you work in?
• If you go to school, in which city is your school?
• ZIP Code of Last Address

12. Interim housing provides safe and temporary accommodations for people experiencing homelessness.

13. Stable housing indicates that these households may have reunited with family, signed leases (market rate, below market rate, or with time-limited rent subsidies), or otherwise exited to a place meant for human habitation.

14. The “other” category reflects when the exit destination is unknown. This includes instances when clients leave without infor ming staff or when they do not wish to share where they are going after exiting the site.

Attachment 4
DATE: June 14, 2022
CATEGORY: Consent
DEPT.: City Manager’s Office
TITLE: Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking
Program Operation for City-Secured Sites
and Authorization of Associated
Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution
Extending the Declaration of a Shelter
Crisis

RECOMMENDATION

1. Authorize the City Manager or designee to amend the lease agreement with the County of Santa Clara for the use of Shoreline Amphitheatre Lot B for safe parking, to extend the agreement through June 30, 2023.

2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to amend the lease agreement with the County of Santa Clara for the use of the Evelyn lot for safe parking to extend the agreement through June 30, 2023 and modify the 10’ fire saf ety buffer around the passenger vehicle spaces that can be used for either living or commuter parking purposes , to only be required for those spaces used for living purposes.

3. Authorize the City Manager or designee to amend the lease agreement with Terr a Bella II, LLC (an Alta Housing company), for use of the Terra Bella lot for safe parking through June 30, 2023.

4. Authorize the City Manager or designee to amend the sublease agreement with the County of Santa Clara for the use of the Terra Bella lot f or safe parking, to extend the agreement through June 30, 2023.

5. Authorize the City Manager or designee to enter into an agreement with the County of Santa Clara for the operation of safe parking sites through a contracted service provider and a case worker for Permanent Supportive Housing in a total amount not to exceed $525,000 for a one-year term beginning July 1, 2022 and ending June 30, 2023.

6. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute an agreement with the Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos for case management/housing information and referral services through June 30, 2023, for a total agreement amount not to exceed $120,000 for Fiscal Year 2022-23.

Attachment 5
Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

7. Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Mountain View Amending Resolution No. 18301, as Amended by Resolution No. 18462, Declaring a Shelter Crisis, Extending the Duration of the Declaration Until June 30, 2024, to be read in title only, further read ing waived (Attachment 1 to the Council report).

BACKGROUND

This Council report focuses on timely actions related to the City’s safe parking program with additional attached information regarding homelessness in Mountain View and the City’s extensive homeless programs and initiatives. A more comprehensive memorandum describing needs and services was provided to Council on August 4, 2021 and is included as Attachment 2 to this Council report. Updated information will be provided in the next annual memorandum later in summer 2022.

This report recommends Council action to continue 24/7 safe parking use of the three City-secured lots (Shoreline Lot B, Evelyn, and Terra Bella), all of which are leased to the County of Santa Clara (County), which contracts with and oversees a safe parking service provider. Staff recommends an amendment to extend the lease agreement for the Terra Bella lot with the property owner, Terra Bella II, LLC (an Alta Housing company). Staff is also recommending amendments to existing agreements with the County to extend 24/7 safe parking use at these three sites and authorize the City Manager or designee to enter into an agreement with the County for safe parking operations through the contracted service provider and a case worker for Permanent Supportive Housing through June 30, 2023, for a total agreement amount not to exceed $525,000 for Fiscal Year 2022-23. Additionally, this report includes recommendations for Council to authorize the City Manager or designee to execute an agreement with the Community Services Agency (CSA) for case management/housing information and referral services through June 30, 2023, for a total agreement amount not to exceed $120,000 for Fiscal Year 2022-23.

Finally, staff also recommends Council adopt a resolution to extend the declaration of shelter crisis until June 30, 2024 (Attachment 1).

Homelessness Trends in Mountain View and Living-in-Vehicles Count

County “point-in-time” (PIT) counts have indicated that the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Mountain View has increased , with homelessness trending up for nearly a decade. Most of the people counted were unsheltered. The County’s count considers residents living in recreational vehicles (RVs) and other vehicles as unsheltered. The 2019 count of 606 homeless individuals in Mountain View represents the latest available numbers since the County received a waiver from Hou sing and Urban Development (HUD) to postpone the next count until 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mountain View’s 2022 PIT data, along with all other City-level data as discussed below, is expected to be published in late June or early July.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

The County’s preliminary data shows that from 2019 to 2022 , the overall number of homeless people remained relatively steady , with a 3% increase Countywide. At the same time, the number of unsheltered individuals decreased by 3% Countywide.

To augment the information from the County PIT count, the City also conducts a street-by-street count of vehicles that appear to be in use for living purposes. From 2017 until 2020, the count of vehicles in the public right-of-way (PROW) used for living has ranged from 250 to 300 vehicles on average. The highest count was in July 2020 at 320 vehicles (combined on-street and in safe parking lots). Thereafter, the safe parking lots were operating 24/7 and vehicles on -site were excluded from the PROW and, instead, counted separately.

Over time, the counts reflect that more than half of the counted vehicles have been RVs. The January 2022 count of 218 vehicles reflects an increase in other types of vehicles, including vans, buses, box trucks, and unhitched trailers. While there has been both a modest decrease and a change in the types of vehicles used for living purposes in the PROW in the most recent count, the overall trend for lived -in vehicles has remained fairly consistent. Though the numbers are down in some of the on-street counts, the challenges and factors that may result in living in vehicles remain.

Homelessness and Housing Services

For the past six years, the City has been studying and taking action to address the challenging rise in homelessness and unstably housed individuals. Today, the City is a recognized leader in addressing this regional problem, looking at all options and forging strong partnerships with the County of Santa Clara and many community-based organizations. Further details and associated Council reports are available at www.mountainview.gov/homeless.

Based on Council direction, staff aimed early on to connect with the Countywide system to leverage resources and expand public and private partnerships to address the needs of those who live in vehicles and others experiencing or at risk for homelessness i n Mountain View. The needs and services related to homelessness can be viewed within a continuum for “coordinated care,” which includes Homelessness Prevention, Rapid Rehousing, and Permanent Supportive Housing. Highlights of key City actions to increase housing options along the continuum are summarized below.

• LifeMoves Mountain View (Project Home key), which added 100 units of interim housing serving 88 individuals and 12 families experiencing homelessness seeking a path to more stable options.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

• Safe Parking Program Lots, with capacity of up to 101 parking spaces, currently serving on average approximately 130 to 150 individuals.

• Emergency Sheltering, with capacity of 65 beds (includes partial-year cold-weather season).

Modifications were made to capacity due to COVID-19 restrictions.

• Crestview Hotel, including approximately 48 supportive units for families being explored with the County of Santa Clara to serve unstably housed people.

• Affordable Housing Units , including 1,628 existing affordable housing units and eight affordable housing projects in various stages of development, which would add 813 units to the City's affordable housing inventory.

Safe Parking Background

The City began exploring safe parking in 2015, at whic h time there were no responders to the City’s Request for Proposals for a safe parking operator. Since then, the City has been working actively to form partnerships, encourage regional solutions, and put in place policies and programs in an arena where be st practices are still evolving and the level of need far outstrips what any one entity can do on its own. As a result of these consistent efforts, the City has been instrumental in: supporting the formation of a local, nonprofit safe parking provider (M OVE Mountain View); helping to launch small safe parking programs at faith-based locations; adopting a Safe Parking Ordinance to facilitate the creation of safe parking locations on private lots; securing three dedicated safe parking lots; partnering with the County to provide safe parking and a range of other services to support unstably housed residents on a path to permanent housing; and growing to become the largest safe parking provider in the region with the capacity for up to 101 vehicles (includes faith-based lots).

Associated Safe Parking Outreach Initiatives

A big part of the City’s preliminary work in this space included significant engagement with the faith community for consideration of their support for hosting safe parking on their lots. Two meetings of the faith community were held in April 2017 and October 2017 to address the growing need for assistance in serving the unhoused in Mountain View. Supervisor Simitian continued to foster these efforts developing the “Mountain View Ar ea Faith Collaborative.” In addition, the City of Mountain View Human Relations Commission Subcommittee also worked on the safe parking initiative to try and secure private lots for over a year, and the Subcommittee completed its work at the end of last fiscal year.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

City Safe Parking Ordinance

Adopted on September 24, 2019, the City’s Safe Parking Ordinance (Ordinance) sets forth regulations for safe parking facilities to meet basic health and safety requirements, facilitate participants’ transitions to p ermanent housing, and promote compatibility with surrounding uses. These regulations include the provision of restrooms, water, and trash facilities; a black/graywater disposal plan; minimum 10’ clearance distance between vehicles used for living to addre ss fire safety issues; and a minimum 25’ buffer from residential property lines. The Ordinance established hours of lot operation of 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. and lot capacity at 30 vehicles (which was recommended as consistent with the size of safe parking operations in the County, operator capacity to assist participants, and resources available to manage the sites).

The Ordinance also sets forth the process for establishing safe parking facilities, requiring a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) and Police Department administrative permit. During a declared shelter crisis, such as is currently in place in Mountain View throug h June 2022, the approval process is streamlined, and a TUP is not required. While the Ordinance does not apply to City - owned or -controlled property, the City has chosen to comply with the Ordinance with some limited exceptions related to the extension of lot hours to 24/7, capacity, and other adjustments that have provided an increased service level for health and safety, such as running water related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shelter Crisis Resolution

The City Council adopted a resolution declaring a shelter crisis in March 2019 , which was extended on June 9, 2020, with an expiration date of June 30, 2022. This declaration has provided the City more opportunity and flexibility to work with the County and community -based organizations to assist individuals experiencing homelessness, particularly in creating safe parking lots for individuals living in vehicles . Staff recommended the adoption of a resolution declaring a shelter crisis in Mountain View to enable potential assistance with transitional housing strategies or future grant opportunities. Staff noted at the time that an extension of the declaration would be considered in response to an ongoing homelessness crisis.

Since the original declaration in March 2019 and extension adopted in June 2020 , there have been many enhancements to increase housing options along the continuum, as discussed in the Background section above and discussed in depth in Attachment 2 . Nevertheless, the need for temporary sheltering remains great in Mountain View as well as across the County and State.

Thus, the findings from the existing emergency shelter declaration remain applicable as discussed in the next section of this report.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

City-Secured Lots

The City has been instrumental in securing three lots for the provision of safe parking at Shoreline Amphitheatre Lot B, which is owned by the City but leased to Live Nation, du ring the concert season; Evelyn Avenue, which is leased from the Valley Transit Authority (VTA); and Terra Bella Avenue, which is leased from Terra Bella II, LLC (an Alta Housing company). The City has taken the lead in identifying and negotiating the use of these lots, funding lot preparation, providing funding for safe parking services, and identifying opportunities for increasing vehicle capacity on the sites. The current capacity of the lots (including the faith-based lots) is summarized in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Existing Safe Parking Lot Capacity

Lot Planning Zone Vehicle Type Capacity
(Living Spaces are noted
in bold)
Alta Housing
(formerly PAHC)
General Industrial
(MM)
Oversized vehicles
(OVs) with some
passenger vehicles
9 OVs
Shoreline Lot B
(on Crittenden Lane)
Public Facility (PF) OVs with some
passenger vehicles
29 OVs
4 passenger vehicles*
(*Not in use—being
repainted)
Two Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA)
commuter vehicles
Two loading zone spaces
Evelyn Lot
(former VTA
parking lot)
General Industrial
(MM)
OVs with some
passenger vehicles
30 OVs
21 flex spaces (for living
in or commuter parking
for passenger vehicles)
17 commuter vehicle
spaces (including two
ADA spaces)
Two loading zone spaces
St. Timothy’s Lot
(faith)
*On hiatus
Single-Family
Residential (R-1)
Passenger vehicles 4
Lord’s Grace (faith) North Bayshore Precise
Plan (P-39)
Passenger vehicles 4

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

County Agreements for 24/7 Safe Parking

In March 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency and public health orders to Shelter- in-Place, the need for safe parking became even more urgent. Through a series of actions on February 25, March 17, and March 27, 2020, the City Council approved various lease and funding agreements for the Cou nty to administer 24/7 safe parking services at all three lots. This was further extended on September 8, 2020 , with Council actions that authorized 24/7 safe parking operation on a temporary basis through an adopted resolution and made a number of other modifications to increase passenger vehicle spaces for a mix of commuter parking and living on City-owned or -controlled lots. On June 8, 2021, Council authorized extensions of the 24/7 safe parking contracts with the County and a new lease agreement with Terra Bella II, LLC, for the Terra Bella lot along with a sublease to the County for safe parking operations. This has led to full utilization for oversized vehicles of the City safe parking sites consistently for over two years.

ANALYSIS

Safe Parking Program Status

The following sections provide information about the people who are participating in the City’s safe parking program, including the number of participants compared to the sites’ capacity, the number of participants in each of the City’s preference areas, and the housing outcomes for those people who have left the program. Additional demographic and income data is included in Attachment 3 for the reporting period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. New fiscal year data will be available and included in the third Homeless Initiatives Memo—Update in summer 2022.

Capacity Utilization

The sites that are in operation are at or are near capacity currently with an average over time of 130 to 150 unduplicated participants living in 80 vehicles. A majority of the part icipants are families and are residing in oversized vehicles, such as RVs. The data included in Attachment 3 provides demographic details from the County assessments completed by the heads of household.

The chart in Figure 1 below shows the number of par ticipants and percent of space capacity utilized at the City -secured and faith-based sites. The counts are based on use as of April 2022 and do not include one of the two faith-based programs, which has been on hiatus.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

Figure 1: Participant and Capacity Utilization (April 2022)

City Preference Areas

The City’s preferences for safe parking are to serve people who have lived and worked in Mountain View, who have students in Mountain View schools, who are seniors, or who are disabled. Figure 2 below shows the number of participants in each of these priority areas during the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. These numbers are based on data from the qualifying applications, not a census. There may be duplication across the preference areas and across the sites as some may have stayed in more than one lot during the reporting period.

_____________________
NOTE: Data reported by vehicle unit as some participants fall into more than one category.

Figure 2: City Preferences Data by Vehicle Unit for the Period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 49 62
5 12 4
97% 98%
57%
100% 100%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
0 10
20 30
40 50
60 70
Shoreline Evelyn (OVs) Evelyn
(Passenger
Vehicles)
Terra Bella Faith Lots
Total Participants Capacity Utilization
13 20
55 24
0 10
20 30
40 50
60 Families with
students in MV
school districts
Live/work in MV Seniors (55+ years
and above)
The disabled
Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

Assessments and Exit Data

The intention of the safe parking model is to provide a pathway to housing through intensive case management. The mission of MOVE Mountain View (the operator of sa fe parking in Mountain View) is to provide safety and continuity of place for those living in their vehicles. They note that, for some, safe parking is a safe way to reenter into a community after living in isolation. For others, with the assistance of case managers, clients learn to set obtainable goals that will lead toward permanent housing.

All households (vehicle units) complete a standard assessment known as the Vulnerability Index- Service Prioritization Decision Assessment Tool (VI -SPDAT), which is entered into the County’s Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This assessment generates scores that determine eligibility for Permanent Supportive Housing, Rapid Rehousing, or minimal intervention (scales vary for individuals and families with children), in that order.

The County sets a target of 30% placement to permanent housing for emergency and temporary programs, such as safe parking. The goal is to get clients into the community queue for services and to transition to other housing options along the housing continuum. As clients move along the continuum, success rates and placement rates continue to rise. Progress along this continuum is dependent on the availability of housing—which has been and c ontinues to be limited, especially as it relates to meeting the demand for extremely low-income housing.

Overall, COVID-19 has affected Countywide housing exit rates during this reporting period due to the Shelter-in-Place Order, where many resources and opportunities were not available, and employment has been negatively impacted. For the most recent reporting period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, 52 households exited the safe parking program , and their exit destinations are summarized in Figure 3 below. The average length of stay for the 52 households in the City’s safe parking program was approximately 287 days.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

__________________
* Note: Refers to a vehicle, an abandoned building, bus/train/subway station/airport, or anywhere outside.

Figure 3: Participants’ Exit Destinations for the Period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021

Recommended Council Actions

One-Year Extension to 24/7 Safe Parking Program Term

The need for safe parking has continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to continue through surges and into the recovery/transition period due to the pandemic’s impact on economic stability and housing security for Mountain View’s vulnerable populations. In addition, staff has observed several benefits of 24/7 operations at the City -secured lots. These full-time hours allow access to water, medical services, showers, and hygiene services, which continue to be essential, and also provide more effective on -site access to case managers. Furthermore, by not requiring safe parking vehicles to leave the sites during the day, these vehicles are not relocated to City streets, and participants can experience more consistency and stability to help them move onto the next steps on their path to housing. Since these City-secured lots do not have daytime uses, there is not an impact on availability of parking for other needs.

The continuation of 24/7 safe parking at City -secured lots will require amendments to existing agreements for the Shoreline Lot B, Evelyn lot, and Terra Bella lot. The continued use of the Terra Bella lot requires an amendment to the lease agreement with Terra Bella II, LLC , to extend the lease term for the Terra Bella lot until June 30, 2023. This action is included in staff’s recommendations.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

In addition, s taff recommends that the Cit y Council authorize the City Manager or designee to execute an amendment to the no -cost lease agreements with the County to extend their use of Shoreline Lot B, the Evelyn lot, and the Terra Bella lot for a 24/7 safe parking program until June 30, 2023, under existing terms, with an additional amendment to the agreement related to the Evelyn lot to modify the 10’ fire-safety buffer around the passenger vehicles spaces that can be used for either living or commuter parking purposes to only be required for those spaces used for living purposes. This increases the potential total capacity of the Evelyn lot for passenger vehicles used for commuter parking.

The City executed a long -term lease with the VTA for use of the Evelyn lot in September 2021 , and no further action is required for continuing safe parking operations at this site.

Funding Agreement with the County of Santa Clara

The Fiscal Year 2022 -23 Recommended Budget includes $400,000 to fund 24/7 safe parking services, which is at a simila r funding level as in the Fiscal Year 2021 -22 Budget. This funding amount includes case management for all safe parking participants. The agreement with the County will provide for operations through a contracted provider ( the current provider is MOVE Mountain View). The Recommended Budget also includes continued funding in the amount of $125,000 for a case worker for permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless. Staff recommends Council authorize the City Manager or designee to enter into a funding agreement with the County in the amount of $525,000 for these services through June 30, 2023.

Funding Agreement with the Community Services Agency of Mountain View and Los Altos

Since 2017, the City has contributed $60,000 each year , which was matched by the County through a revenue -share agreement for case management services provided by CSA. The combined $120,000 provided funding for a percentage of three CSA case management staff salaries. Due to County procurement limitations, t he $60,000 matching grant is not available going forward from Fiscal Year 2022-23. To maintain service levels of housing problem -solving and referral and case management services through June 30, 2023 , s taff recommends an agreement with CSA to include continued City funding of $60,000 , with an additional $60,000 commitment from the City, to be funded from the grant provided to the City by Destination Home for a total of $120,000. Through the Fiscal Year 2022-23 revenue-share agreement, the County continues to provide significant funding for safe parking and other continuum of care services.

Amendment for Extension of Shelter Crisis Resolution

A shelter crisis declaration authorizes the provision of emergency housing on City -owned or -controlled property and suspends State and local housing, health, and safety standards to the Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

extent that strict compliance would hinder mitigation of the shelter crisis. The City may, in place of such standards, enact municipal health and safety standards to apply during the shelter crisis so long as minimal public health and safety standards are met. In addition, State law provides immunity to the City from ordinary negligence in the provision of emergency housing.

Based on the large gap in available shelter or safe parking spaces relative to the number of unsheltered and unstably housed individuals in the community, staff recommends that Council extend the shelter crisis declaration until June 30, 2024 . This provides additional time to make progress in addressing this regional challenge and for the next County PIT homelessness count to be completed, thus providing the City with additional information regarding the level of homelessness in Mountain View and the progress of its programs and partnerships with the County and community-based organizations. The continuation of the declaration will enable the continuation of a streamlined process for the potential exp ansion of safe parking sites since , when a shelter crisis is declared, only a Police Department permit is required with an exemption from the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) process.

Considerations for Potential Future Expansion of Safe Parking Capacity

During past Council discussions of the City’s safe parking program, questions have been raised as to whether it would be possible to expand the number of spaces available. As noted above, capacity was increased through Council action at its September 8, 2020 meeting, exhausting the measures that could be easily taken to increase capacity. As further described below, the range of issues that would need to be considered in reexamining the potential to increase lot capacity include:

• Renegotiating contract terms with Live Nation for additional space at Shoreline Lot B;

• Assessing the off -site parking needs of LifeMoves MountainView currently using part of Shoreline Lot B;

• Seeking regulatory approval of an amendment to the Post-Closure Maintenance Plan for the closed landfill;

• Reviewing the Evelyn lot for possible redesign; and

• Funding and amending contracts for safe parking and related services.

If it is of interest to the Council, given the magnitude of staff and funding resources that would be required, a project to explore expansion of safe parking spaces could be considered as part of the next biannual Council work plan process, which will commence in February 2023.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

Staff notes that t he potential for additional capacity would be considered in the context of the time horizons anticipated for the current safe parking sites. This includes the effort to maintain current safe parking capacity when Alta Housing begins the development of aff ordable housing at the Terra Bella site and those nine safe parking spaces are no longer available. Staff’s intent is to maintain current overall program capacity for as long as possible, with the Shoreline and Evelyn lots estimated to be available for safe parking use through 2025.

Staff further notes that the Council Work Plan priority project to develop a Homelessness Response Strategy will provide important additional direction regarding the role of safe parking as an interim solution and as part of the range of efforts to provide stable housing for Mountain View residents.

Live Nation Shoreline Lot Contractual Terms

As noted in the Background section of this report, Live Nation has contractual rights to use lots at Shoreline Amphitheatre for event parking. In 2019, the City first negotiated with Live Nation to secure portions of Lot B for a safe parking site . Originally, the use of the lot was limited to 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. during the break in the Shoreline Amphitheatre event schedule. The City further negotiated with Live Nation twice in 2020 to extend use of the safe parking lot to be year- round and 24/7 and for the use of additional space in Lot B for the parking of the vehicles of LifeMoves Mountain View residents due to the limited parking at the site on Leghorn Street.

During these negotiations, the City secured use of the Shoreline lot through December 2025. This last action, taken in 2021, was based on Council feedback at its December 8, 2020 meeting asking staff to work with Live Nation for additional opportunities associated with parking to assist homeless needs.

During staff’s many discussions with Live Nation, Live Nation has asked the City to stay close to the “existing footprint ,” stating the need to retain space f or event parking . At this point, staff does not have any indication that Live Nation will be open to adding more spaces beyond what they provided in 2021.

LifeMoves Lease of a Portion of Shoreline Lot B

When Council provided direction regarding the use of Shoreline Lot B for parking associated with LifeMoves Mountain View , Council provided staff with flexibility to focus first on this priority need, with the option to relook at the additional space secured at Lot B for future safe parking.

At this time, LifeMoves is using , on average, less than one-third of the 34 spaces in Lot B as off - site parking. Their current agreement is through December 2022. Staff will continue to monitor use of these spaces, including the progress and impact of bringing on board a new parking lot on Leghorn Street to serve residents of LifeMoves Mountain View, to assess the need for the off-site Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

parking location. If the spots are no longer needed for LifeMoves Mountain View and are converted to the parking of oversized vehicles used for living purposes, staff estimates that 11 spaces, with the required 10’ fire safety buffers, could be gained.

Postclosure Landfill Environmental Regulations

In order to use Shoreline Lot B for safe parking, the City was required to apply for an amendment to the City’s Postclosure Maintenance Plan for the closed landfill at that site as safe parking (living in a vehicle) was not a designated use for the parking lot. The City is currently only permitted for the current program scope. To expand the number of vehicles used for living purposes on this site, it would be necessary to seek another amendment. This would require significant staff time across various City departments and would take an estimated six months. The City would also be required to monitor landfill gas at each safe parking vehicle as is being done with current safe parking vehicles on Shoreline Lot B.

Assessment of Evelyn Lot for Redesign

In September 2020, Council approved a redesign of the Evelyn lot to provide for the parking of safe parking resident commuter vehicles in order to reduce the on-street parking impact to nearby businesses. Staff could assess a possible redesign of the site to convert commuter vehicle parking to parking for living purposes, to change the vehicle mix, remove trees, restripe the lot, and make other infrastructure changes t o increase the number of spaces. This work would require temporary relocation of existing clients.

Service Contract Funding and Amendments

As seen in the recommendations associated with this report , there are many different agreements and leases that enable the operation of the current safe parking program. This includes agreements with the County, which specify both County and City funding of safe parking and continuum of housing services. Additional funding from both agencies would be needed to serve additional safe parking participants. Increased funding and an amended agreement would also be needed to expand t he case management services provided by CSA. Any changes to the design or parameters of the safe parking lots would require that the City’s leases with the County be amended.

FISCAL IMPACT

City funds in the amount of $645,000 are included in the Fiscal Year 2022 -23 Recommended Budget. The fundin g is from several sources , including the General Housing Fund , which also includes a portion of a grant from Destination: Home ($60,000) and Limited-Period Funds.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

There is no direct fiscal impact from extending the shelter crisis declaration. Associated projects to provide additional sheltering or safe parking options pursuant to further Council direction may require additional funds.

CONCLUSION

This report recommends a variety of actions needed to extend the duration of the cu rrent safe parking program. It also provides background information on the development and scope of the safe parking program; current data on capacity utilization through April 2022; Fiscal Year 2020-21 data regarding safe parking program participants and outcomes (with Fiscal Year 2021-22 data to be shared in the third annual Homelessness Initiative Memo in summer 2022); and considerations for potential expansion of safe parking capacity, a project which Council could consider as part of its next biannual goal-setting and project prioritization process starting in February 2023.

ALTERNATIVES

1. Do not approve the staff recommendation.

2. Modify one or more staff recommendations.

3. Provide other direction to staff.

Continuation of 24/7 Safe Parking Program Operation for City-Secured Sites and Authorization of Associated Agreements, and Adoption of Resolution Extending the Declaration of a Shelter Crisis
June 14, 2022

PUBLIC NOTICING

Agenda posting, web and social media advisories, and a copy of the report was sent to Santa Clara County representatives, CSA, MOVE Mountain View, Alta Housing, Live Nation, Destination:

Home, and other community-based organizations and stakeholder group members, shared with the safe parking lots via the operator, and, as feasible, others who have corresponded with the City Manager’s Office on this topic.

Prepared by:

Kimberly S. Thomas
Assistant to the City Manager

Parneet Dhindsa
Human Services Manager

Harsha Ramchandani
Management Analyst
Approved by:

Audrey Seymour Ramberg
Assistant City Manager/
Chief Operating Officer

KST-PD-HR/6/CAM
609-06-14-22CR
202000

Attachments: 1. Resolution to Extend Declaration of Shelter Crisis

2. Homeless Initiatives Memo—Update as of August 4, 2021

3. Safe Parking Participant Demographic Data
Attachment 6
KST-PD/6/MGR
609-12-15-22M-Att6 -1-
COVID-19 CRISIS AND TRANSITION RESPONSE
County Response
Increased Temporary Shelter Capacity
The County has increased its existing emergency shelter capacity by an additional 688 beds from May 2021 to June 2022 with interim housing beds more than doubling from 418 to 849 during this period. As of June 30, 2022, there were 2,260 total beds available in Santa Clara County. All additional Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) noncongregate hotel/motel programs and all but one COVID -19 congregate shelters have closed as of June 30, 2022. The County has also expanded its Homelessness Prevention efforts to cover approximately 2,161 households annually and has contributed nearly $7 million. Through the Supportive Housing Programs ( permanent supportive housing , rapid rehousing , and other permanent housing), the County has assisted 12,528 households, including Homeless Prevention efforts, during the period of May 2021 through June 2022, with 2,326 households transitioning to permanent housing during the same period.

The County does periodic updates on all programs that show cities’ participation as a part of their annual report (s). The most recent report available at this time is as of 202 1, and more information can be found at https://osh.sccgov.org/continuum-care/reports-and-publications.

The table below from the County shows bed capacity by city for cold-weather shelters, domestic violence shelters, emergency shelters, and interim housing as of June 30, 2022.

Table 1: Bed Capacity by City for Shelters and Interim Housing (as of June 30, 2022) Cold-Weather
Shelter
Domestic
Violence Shelter
Emergency
Shelter
Interim
Housing
Grand
Total
Confidential 16 16
East Palo Alto
Gilroy 105 36 80 50 271
Hayward 4 4
Milpitas 135 135
Mountain View 30 136 166
Palo Alto 16 16
San Jose 45 29 802 634 1,510
San Martin 0
Santa Clara 6 6
South County 4 4
Sunnyvale 102 102
Unknown 30 30
TOTAL 180 81 1,150 849 2,260
KST-PD/6/MGR
609-12-15-22M-Att6 -2-
Isolation and Quarantine Program Services

Rental assistance and support services have been available to Mountain View residents who have tested positive for COVID -19 or have had close contact with someone who has tested positive.

While referrals for ren tal assistance and support services concluded at the end of March 2022, they continued being processed into June 2022. Isolation motels started serving only homeless clients at the beginning of June 2022. In January 2021, Council approved a funding agree ment with the County at a total cost of $141,000 for motel accommodations for Mountain View residents for the period of September 25, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Funding covered the cost of those accommodations plus the City’s allocated share for the Medi cal Team and County Placement Team, which provides support for and coordination of the program. Details of residents served through the program are included below:

• Forty-six (46) residents have used the isolation and quarantine program services, of whi ch 29 had tested positive and 17 were exposed to COVID-19.

• Seven residents were housed but unable to isolate or quarantine themselves, and 39 were homeless.

Outreach/Communications

Outreach and communications using all channels is a vital part of t he response plan. The City’s Police Outreach Team continues disseminating information in both English and Spanish directly to individuals by placing flyers on vehicles believed to be used for housing. This information has also been distributed to community-based providers.

The City’s Multicultural Engagement Program continues its outreach to, and engagement with, the City’s Spanish -, Mandarin -, and Russian -speaking residents to understand concerns and provide frequent updates and referrals to assistance.

For individuals with digital/cellular access, the City has widely communicated the option to get COVID-19 updates by texting “MVCOVID” to 22828, visiting the City’s website at MountainView.gov/COVID, and following City Hall on social media through its Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube webpages.

Launch of Day Worker Center Minivan Outreach Pilot Program

In March 2021, the Day Worker Center (DWC) in Mountain View launched a COVID -19 response effort to reach the most vulnerable members of our community to provide resources and information. The new minivan outreach program is being piloted under its Workers Initiative Secure Encountering (WISE) Project. The program provide s vital information, masks, hand sanitizer, etc., from the mobile minivan. It has been staffed by Spanish-speaking staff from the DWC, and all resources have been free.

KST-PD/6/MGR
609-12-15-22M-Att6 -3-
The pilot program aims to improve access issues for those without internet or cell phone service or who face literacy challenges. The program visits high -traffic sites to provide information in- person in a socially distanced way. This is not a City or County program, but the City and County, via Supervisor Joe Simitian’s office , are assisting in providing information ; resources, such as masks and sanitizer ; and links to co mmunity connections. Additionally, the program has been connected to Valley Medical Center Foundation, which is serving as the collection point for COVID-19-related donations, such as masks and sanitizers, in Santa Clara County.

As of June 2022, the prog ram has ensured that the most vulnerable community members have access to COVID -19 vaccines and testing information, workers’ rights resources, personal protective equipment, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement free legal advice line, and COVID-19 rapid test kits. Data highlights for the period March 2021 through June 2022 include:

• 225 COVID-19 vaccine and booster appointments made;

• 7,283 COVID-19 rapid test kits distributed; and

• 321 attendees across multiple “Know Your Rights” workshops.

Mobile and/or Fixed Showers

Due to COVID -19 concerns, the showers and laundry services located at Hope’s Corner were temporarily closed as of June 2020, and services resumed in March 2021. Data highlights for services provided from May 2021 to June 2022 indicate:

• 1,656 showers provided;

• 210 unduplicated clients served for showers;

• 524 laundry loads provided; and

• 98 unduplicated clients served for laundry services.

The City was instrumental in securing additional mobile shower services from Dignity on Wheels at Community Services Agency (CSA), which started June 9, 2020. The City provided $35,000 in funding to expand mobile shower services from the existing one 3 -hour session per week to two 4-hour sessions per week. With the increase in services and increased needs, nearly 221 unduplicated clients have been served on average each month. Services provided for the period May 2021 through June 2022 indicate:

• 973 showers provided; and

• 359 laundry loads.

KST-PD/6/MGR
609-12-15-22M-Att6 -4-
In April 2021, the County also began offering mobile shower services from Dignity on Wheels at the City’s safe parking lots on Shoreline Lot B and the Evelyn Avenue lot for the safe parking participants. Fifteen (15) showers and two laundry load services were provided at the single session held in April. These services supplement the fixed showers and laundry services that were restarted in April at Hope’s Corner. Services provided from May 2021 through June 20 22 indicate:

• 1,100 showers provided; and

• 655 laundry loads.

Homeless/Unstably Housed Residents Vaccination Efforts

The County of Santa Clara’s V alley Homeless Healthcare Program (V HHP) provides health-care services to people experiencing homelessness in Santa Clara County. As a part of the County’s COVID-19 response, VHHP medical teams have been distributing vaccines to the homeless in Mountain View on a rolling basis, based on vaccine availability. This is part of their Countywide, ongoing, backpack/street medicine program and supplements the regular visits of the mobile medical units to Mountain View facilities discussed in the memorandum.

• As of June 2022, the County Public Health Department and their VHHP team have administered 734 vaccine shots to the City’s homeless/unstably housed residents.

The VHHP team also provided increased services to North County during the COVID-19 pandemic, including regular surveillance COVID-19 swabbing during the monthly mobile medical unit visits to the County-leased safe parking lots, Rengstorff Park barbecue area parking lot, and downtown Parking Lot 7. If positive COVID -19 cases were identified, VHHP offered isolation in motels specifically designated for COVID -19-positive individuals and provided medical care throughout their isolation period. In addition, VHHP provided a number of North County elderly and those with chronic conditions motel rooms to protect them from COVID -19 exposure at a number of motels across the County. VHHP continued to follow these clients’ health care throughout their hotel stay via either telehealth or an on-site medical mobile unit.

VHHP also provides “street medicine” outreach to various encampments in North County or outreach to individuals with chronic medical conditions. Partnerships with local community agencies allowed for coordination of care and collaboration, including Hope’s Corner and MOVE Mountain View. Additional services that VHHP provided duri ng the pandemic included:

VI-SPDAT surveys that determine risk and prioritization when providing assistance to homeless and at -risk of homelessness persons, medical transportation for individuals, assistance with medical applications, in-person care for a cute medical issues, and telehealth for psychiatry and counseling services.