December 17, 2024
Community Development
DATE: December 17, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Jesus Morales, Housing Manager
Subject:
Encampment Resolution Funding Round 3 Award
Acceptance and Appropriation
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The City was awarded a $9,336,746 grant that would assist the City in providing services to support people living in encampments throughout the city to safe and
stable housing pathways.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The City of Richmond applied for and was awarded an
Encampment Resolution Funding Round 3 award (ERF-
3-R) to provide cross-systems collaboration and service strategies to help people experiencing homelessness
within City encampments to transition out toward safe
and stable housing pathways. City staff is seeking
Council authorization to accept and appropriate the ERF- 3-R award into the Housing budget.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a Resolution accepting and appropriating a
$9,336,746 Encampment Resolution Funding Round 3
(ERF-3-R) award to provide services and support for
people living in Citywide encampments onto paths to safe and stable housing, and employment opportunities –
Community Development Department (Lina
Velasco/Jesus Morales 510-620-6649).
AGENDA
REPORT
December 17, 2024
DISCUSSION:
In April 2024, the City applied for Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) Round 3 seeking resources from the State of California to fund a local demonstration project, which would provide services to address the immediate crisis of experiencing unsheltered homelessness in encampments, and support people living in encampments onto paths to safe and stable housing.
Successful grantees are to design a demonstration project that builds the capacity to provide relevant and responsive services to individuals experiencing homelessness in encampments. The project will support cross-systems collaboration and service strategies to help people experiencing homelessness transition out of encampments toward safe and stable housing pathways. Activities will also support efforts to restore encampment sites to their original state and intended purposes, but the activities must prioritize protecting the health, safety, and well-being of the individuals who had been living in the encampments.
Summary of Richmond’s ERF-3-R Project
The City of Richmond was awarded its third Encampment Resolution Funding grant by the CA Department of Housing and Community Development in October 2024. The ~$9.3 million award will support city residents experiencing homelessness in encampments and recognizes Richmond’s innovation and commitment to moving people who are unsheltered into housing. The three-year project will provide outreach; case management; housing navigation; income development; literacy and vocational training; and job placement to 165 people and aims to transition 90 people into stable housing. The ERF grant program is competitive and Richmond’s ERF-3 proposal was heavily informed by the successes and limitations of the city’s prior experiences resolving encampments, including ERF-1 and ERF-2 projects.
Faced with high area rents, a shortfall of affordable housing, and an absence of vouchers, most people who are supported by Richmond’s Community Development Department with ERF funds must secure sustainable income to avoid returning to homelessness. To meet that need with its ERF-3 project, Richmond will provide income- focused case management and, for those who are able and interested, a robust vocational training program tailored specifically to empower people who have been chronically homeless to step into jobs of increasing responsibility as they stabilize and develop long-term plans. This approach, with its emphasis on supportive workforce development, grew out of the city’s experience moving more than 200 people out of encampments—those with jobs experience the most long-term stability.
At the start of the project, a Rapid Response Team will provide sustained outreach to people living at eight high-return sites, including the Greenway, Richmond Parkway, and South Garrard Blvd. Residents at the sites will move in cohorts into our project’s navigation center, an interim housing site where people will be connected with healthcare and supportive services. As they stabilize, meet with case managers, and develop plans for generating income and moving into permanent housing, they will be provided vocational case management, job training, and skill building.
December 17, 2024
One of the keys to Richmond’s success in moving people from the streets into authentic solutions are its monthly “Staying on Your Feet” meetings where people who have been homeless come together, learn critical life skills, build community, and help each other forge new paths.
Of the $9.3 million (which was the City’s total request), $5.7 million will be spent directly on people experiencing homelessness as salary subsidies, rental subsidies, incentives, and expenses related to housing. To ensure long-term success for people served by the project and empower ERF-3 participants to sustain their housing, our budget includes $1.1 million for a workforce development component, including vocational case management, training, and job placements, tiered to allow people to gradually adapt to increased commitments.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
The Encampment Resolution Round 3 award will further the goals and policies identified within the adopted City of Richmond Homelessness Strategic Plan. Specifically, the grant project would provide funding for implementation of Action Step 1.4: Expand case management and other care-related individualized services directly in encampments to build connections for unsheltered individuals to have access to an expanded array of opportunities and resources for personal development, wellness and health, and financial means to secure and sustain housing, and ongoing support for long-term stabilization.
CONCLUSION:
The ERF-3-R award is needed to help address the myriad needs of the people living in citywide encampments in a holistic Housing First approach.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Draft ERF Grant Agreement