From:
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2023 6:12 PM
To: Lindsay Lara <[email protected]>
Subject: Cit Council Study Session: Tiny Homes (Interim Housing)
Good evening, Dear Lindsay! I'm delighted to have learned about this important meeting in this morning's IJ and happy to have been able to attend on line. I'm sorry that I couldn't participate in the "community discussion" part of the meeting, but have a few comments that I'd like to share. It's so very exciting to see both the enthusiasm for this model and the practicality brought to the discussion by those who must ask the hard questions. While transparency around location, structure and service issues is vital to a viable pilot, and I'm delighted to feel the energy in the room to find a way forward, here's my thought or two. I'm a retired Supervising PHN with the County, there working with our community's most vulnerable individuals and families....especially at hospital to home transition. I have led, (& continue to serve as Program Consultant) since 2002, an academic/practice alliance (CAPA) with local university Schools of Nursing and Allied Health programs. Under the supervision of public health nursing, students can be deployed in comprehensive and effective ways to serve the medical, social service, substance use and mental health needs of folks otherwise lost to care. I also began in 2014 until 2020 (with the pandemic-related initiation of the Room Key and Home Key programs) a low barrier medical respite program for homeless individuals and families. Safe and secure, in local motels, individuals and families can be medically stabilized with a goal toward housing readiness, by PHN's and student interns. Please Google opportunityvillagemarin.com for a glimpse of the program and it's effectiveness. I would like to offer this lens to the ongoing discussion as I believe such interventions favorably impact service cost and provide quality outcomes in terms of health and wellness....key components to self-management. Please feel free to contact me by email or my cell Blessings and Gratitude,
Rita Widergren, RN, PHN
Rita and Bob