December 17, 2024
City Council
DATE: December 17, 2024
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Council Member Gayle McLaughlin
Subject:
Presentation on The Concept of Villages For The
Unhoused
FINANCIAL IMPACT: None
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
A presentation from Richmond’s Village Development
Team on the benefit of villages for the unhoused and how they fit into a whole person approach for resolving
homelessness.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECEIVE a presentation from Richmond’s Village
Development Team on the benefit of villages for the
unhoused – Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin (510-620-
6636).
AGENDA
REPORT
December 17, 2024
DISCUSSION:
This item is to receive a presentation from Richmond’s Village Development Team on empowerment villages for the unhoused community. More broadly, it is about why community is important to unhoused individuals as they learn resiliency, new skill sets and how to transition into better lives. Villages involve relationship-building and motivating real personal changes, over time, not just getting people into subsidized housing befo re they are ready. In short, villages serve a very important role in getting people off the streets and prepared for the next stage of their journey from tent to home.
Addressing complex homelessness requires a Whole Person approach with solutions that make space for people to move, step by step, from the streets into a more care -driven and equity-centered approach. In this approach, everyone’s voice matters to uplift health and reduce harm in a community environment. Community agreements get set up between housed and unhoused residents to assure that communication and problem - solving happens for continuous improvement.
Housing First is on the right track, but we need more elements that create pathways to sustain their housing. One of the key elements need ed to ensure authentic change - making is peer accompaniment. This presentation will explain this concept and discuss how peer-based support leads to the efficacy of community.
This model is committed to safe, street -level and dignified pathways that build a culture of mutual accountability. Empowerment villages are very much part of this pathway to ultimately stable permanent housing.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – PPT presentation from Richmond’s Village Development Team