Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
City of Visalia, CA
Consolidated Plan:
Community Engagement Survey Results
2025/26 – 2029/30
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
Contents
Overview ....................................................................................................................................................... 3 Community Organization Survey Results ..................................................................................................... 3 Gaps .......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Housing...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Economic Development ............................................................................................................................. 8 Community Services .................................................................................................................................. 9 Organizational Collaboration and Partnerships ....................................................................................... 10 Funding and Resource Allocation ........................................................................................................... 10 Community Residents Survey Results ........................................................................................................ 10 Demographics ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Housing.................................................................................................................................................... 12 Community Services ................................................................................................................................ 15 Economic and Community Development ................................................................................................ 16 Social and Recreational Services ............................................................................................................ 18
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
Overview
The Community Organization and Resident Surveys were used to gather feedback and information from organizations and residents within the community for the 2025/26-2029/30 Consolidated Plan. Both surveys were open for responses from July 12 , 2024, to August 2 , 2024 (the Community Organization Survey reopened between August 12 -16, 2024 to collect additional responses from selected organizations) . The Community O rganization Survey had 21 respondents, and 116 individuals responded to the Resident Survey. No responses were logged for the Spanish Resident Survey.
Community Organization Survey Results
A variety of organizations responded to the Community Organization Survey , as shown in Table 1 . The largest number of responses came from social service organizations ( 5) and community development corporations (3). The survey asked about several topics, including gaps in programs and services, housing, economic development, community services, organizational collaboration and partnerships, and funding and resource allocation.
A thorough analysis of survey responses showed that r espondents repeatedly emphasized the need for more affordable housing, homeless, mental health, and job training services in the City. Affordable housing and specific housing types to support populations identified as underserved, i.e., individuals with disabilities and the elderly, were called out. Comprehensive homeless support services were cited as another major need. Public infrastructure and community services were generally found to be acceptable, except for public transportation, which was cited as a need related to accessing jobs and employment opportunities .
Organizations emphasized the importance of partnerships for furthering their missions and addressing the identified needs.
Table 1: Community Organization Survey Respondents
No. Organization Name Respondent’s Role Type
1 Self-Help Enterprises Vice President
Community
development
corporation
2 Lindsay Healthy Start Family
Resource Center Director Social service
organization
3 Proteus, Inc. Planner Associate
Community
development
corporation
4 RH Community Builders LP Affordable Housing
Development Director
Social service
organization
5 Visalia Rescue Mission Director of Development Social service organization
6 Central CA Legal Services Chief Program Officer Legal aid services 7 Tulare County Library-Visalia Branch County Librarian Other public entity 8 Kaweah Health Foundation Director Health agency
9 Tulare County HHSA Deputy Director – Integrated
Services
Regional government
unit
10 Kingsview Case Manager/Housing
Navigator
Housing counseling
agency
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
11 Tulare County Office of Education
Foster and Homeless Youth Services
Foster and Homeless Youth
Services Coordinator Other public entity
12 Tulare County Health & Human
Services Agency
Homeless Initiatives Program
Coordinator
Social service
organization
13 The Source LGBT+ Center Executive Director Civil rights organization
14 Visalia Senior Housing CEO
Community
development
corporation
15-
16 Kings Tulare Homeless Alliance (2) Executive Directors (2) of Programs and Operations Continuum of Care
17 Community Services Employment
Training Executive Director Social service
organization
18 Housing Authority of the County of
Tulare
Deputy Executive Director –
Housing Management Public housing agency
19-
21 Anonymous (3)* --- ---
Total 21
*Three respondents did not include any identifying information.
Of the three, only two provided responses to the questions within the Organization Survey.
What is the primary population your organization serves?
Figure 1 - The organizations primarily serve low-income and homeless populations, followed by the youth and elderly.
Gaps
When asked to choose the most effective existing programs and services in Visalia, respondents overwhelmingly selected affordable housing services (14) and mental health services (12), followed by job training/education/job search services (7). The respondents were also able to make suggestions on how existing programs and services can be improved, as shown in Table 2 below.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
Table 2: Organization Comments on Improving Existing Programs/Services Organization Name How can existing programs and services be improved to better serve the City of Visalia?
Self-Help Enterprises
Enhance case management and supportive services programs; recruit new providers to the area; invest a higher ratio of CDBG in housing supports.
Lindsay Healthy Start Family
Resource Center
Create more affordable housing, along with addressing
homelessness that doesn’t split up families or require 12-year-old boys not to be with their parents. Re-evaluate rules… and are they poverty-informed?
Proteus, Inc. Creating, initiating, and facilitating affordable housing for community members who are single parents with only one income.
RH Community Builders LP
The City of Visalia has been extremely supportive of supportive housing and affordable housing development. Additional funding for rental subsidies is necessary to support the continued development of these projects.
Visalia Rescue Mission There is a need to expand existing services, and to mobilize services into underserved areas.
Central CA Legal Services Increased funding to support legal aid services.
Kaweah Health Designated low barrier areas for homeless to congregate and get services.
Kingsview More funding.
Tulare County Office of
Education Foster and
Homeless Youth Services
We need a housing navigator that walks someone experiencing homelessness through the steps of accessing the available resources. The young adults I see experiencing homelessness need to be helped at every step of the way, from applying for programs to finding housing options.
Tulare County Health & Human
Services Agency
Visalia is a beautiful city with challenges faced by communities all across the state. We want to see economic growth and vitality but are constrained by resources. Developing a plethora of housing options (low/mid/high), educational pathways, and job training are all essential but hollow without economic development to help create the jobs these individuals will need to sustain themselves. Offering mental health, substance abuse recovery, and other social support programs helps people who have stumbled or fallen get back up and on a path to stability.
The Source LGBT+ Center General lack of awareness of what exists. Better marketing and outreach. Also how to access, not just what is available.
Visalia Senior Housing
Improved communications between support services, agencies caring for seniors. When reaching out to provide help for residents, they often go unanswered.
Kings Tulare Homeless Alliance
I think the city needs more affordable housing and more housing choice vouchers. There also needs to be a rent cap. Currently, many renters pay more than 30% of their income toward rent.
Community Services
Employment Training
Continue to work and partner with non-profits to seek solutions that address the safety net needs of marginalized members of our community. Also, support for case management services is important.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
Housing Authority of the County
of Tulare Continued collaboration with community partners to work together.
Perhaps reflecting the nature of the populations served by the responding organizations, most organizations noted a shortage of affordable housing options (18) and insufficient homeless prevention programs (16) as the largest gaps in programs and services, but respondents also called out the limited availability of mental health services (14) as a major gap.
What gaps do you see in the current programs and services in the City?
Figure 2
A similar question regarding missing programs and services in the City additionally indicates a moderate need for mental health, economic development, senior, and job training/education/job search services.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What types of services or programs are missing in the City that should be developed?
Figure 3
Underserved populations in the City were identified via a ranking scale by organization respondents.
Populations identified by respondents as having above average or very high degrees of underservice include socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals/families, individuals with disabilities and others with access and functional needs, the elderly, and people with limited English proficiency.
Housing
Several questions dug deeper into the nature of the housing gap in the City. Similar to responses in the previous section, 85% of respondents rated the availability of affordable housing as below average or low.
Specific housing types needed in the community were identified as affordable housing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing , and shelters , evidencing a need to support the underserved populations identified in the previous section via housing services.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What do you believe are the top three housing needs in our community?
Figure 4
On the topic of affordable housing, the biggest barriers to access were largely a limited availability, high rental costs, and homelessness and housing instability, underscoring the affordability and homelessness issues in the community. To address these issues, respondents recommended the strategies of affordable housing development, preservation, and comprehensive homeless prevention and support services.
Economic Development
Respondents were also asked about economic development needs in the City. Specific questions about the quality of public infrastructure (e.g. roads, parks, utilities) and the availability of jobs and employment opportunities showed that respondents generally found these to be at an average level of acceptability, with slightly more respondents finding access to public transportation, health and social services, and jobs and employment opportunities to be poor versus good . Respondents found the quality of public infrastructure like roads, parks, and utilities to be good overall.
However, several economic development issues were identified as pressing, including affordable housing development and workforce development. These results track the gaps previously identified in affordable housing and job training/education/job search services.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
Rank the degree to which the economic development issues listed below are pressing needs in the City.
Figure 5
Community Services
Access to health and social services for low -income residents was generally found to be moderate.
However, when asked to select the primary barriers to accessing services like education and childcare, respondents noted issues with cost, transportation, limited availability of services, and a lack of flexible hours. A public transportation -specific question underscored a perceived issue with public transportation access, with the majority of respondents identifying access as very poor to acceptable.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What are the primary barriers to accessing education and childcare services?
Figure 6
Organizational Collaboration and Partnerships
Collaboration among community organizations was generally identified as good, with the primary barriers to effective collaboration being competition for funding, resource constraints, organizational silos, and communication. Respondents felt that regular communications and meetings, as well as resource sharing, would enhance organizational partnerships.
In free -text responses, organizations further highlighted the need for partnerships, including the City working with schools, organizations, churches, and organizations partnering to address homelessness and other issues. One respondent noted they are unaware of planning sessions involving developers, builders, and city planners, and another said they would like to see new participants at the table.
Funding and Resource Allocation
Organizations identified unpredictable grant funding cycles and insufficient funding allocations as their most significant funding challenges, followed by matching fund requirements and complex grant requirements.
The types of funding needed were operating grants and program/project -specific grants ; organizations generally prioritized partnerships and collaboration as a way to improve the allocation of resources.
Community Residents Survey Results
The Community Residents Survey gathered feedback from residents across the City to support efforts in understanding residents’ funding priorities . The survey collected information on topics including demographics, housin g, supportive services, economic and community development, and social and recreational services.
This survey generally demonstrated less consensus on priorities and needs in the City when compared to the Organization Survey. Respondents were fairly well distributed in age and by area of residence, and tended to have relatively high income and education levels. Over 80% of respondents were homeowners.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents were employed, and the average household size is 3.28, with most respondents living in two -parent households with children or couple s with no children households. The majority of respondents identified as White, and roughly a third of respondents identified as Hispanic.
Residents were not in agreement as to whether there are areas in the City where housing is affordable.
There appeared to be a slight preference for focusing on affordable rental housing, particularly for seniors,
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
as a housing solution, however residents generally favored multiple housing and homeless solutions with few clear priority stand -outs. In contrast to the organization responses, residents generally felt that public transportation options were adequate in the City. Respondents identified a need for job creation/retention and job training programs, similar to the Organization Survey results.
For the needs identified in this survey, respondents overwhelmingly called out Oval (91) and North Visalia (60) as the geographic areas with greatest need.
Demographics
Almost 95% of respondents live d in the City limits, with the vast majority of respondents (85%) residing in Northwest Visalia (32), Southeast Visalia (26), Southwest Visalia (22), and Northeast Visalia (12 ). About 70% of respondents work ed in Visalia. Respondents were generally equally distributed across council districts, with slightly more respondents residing in Districts 1 and 2.
What is your age?
Figure 7
Most respondents were between the ages of 35 -54, and can generally be described as higher income earners. Just over half of respondents live d in a dual income household. About 65% of respondents have a Bachelor’s degree or higher; the remainder of respondents have between a high school diploma and Associate’s degree, with only one respondent having no high school diploma. The majority of respondents (about 75%) were currently employed; about 65% of employed respondents work full-time for an employer, while about 10% were self-employed, and the remainder worked part-time for an employer or are retired.
The average household size is 3.28; about 45% of respondents lived in a two-parent household with minor children, while 23% live d as a couple without children, 13% were single -person households, and the remainder were senior households, related adults living together, single -parent households, unrelated adults living together, or homeless. The racial makeup of respondents was 61% White, 7% Multiracial, 4% Asian-American, 3% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 2% Black/African -American, and 1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, with the remainder choosing not to respond or selecting “Other.” About 31% of respondents identified as Hispanic.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What is your total household income?
Figure 8
Homeowners made up 82% of respondents, with an additional 15% being renters. Four respondents lived with someone else, and one respondent lived on the street, in a car, or in a homeless encampment.
Housing
Several questions asked respondents about housing needs in the City. Residents were roughly split on the question of whether there are areas of the City where low- to moderate-income households can afford rent, demonstrating a lack of consensus among residents on the topic of housing affordability in the City. If residents felt there were areas of the City where housing is affordable, about 64% of respondents said they would fear for their safety in those areas.
As evidenced below, there was no clear consensus on priority housing needs among residents, with several needs receiving high priority. The highest priority need appeared to be affordable rental housing for older adults. Similarly, there was a slight preference shown for affordable rental housing and senior housing solutions.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What are the greatest housing needs in the City of Visalia?
Figure 9
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What priority level should be given to the following types of affordable housing development solutions if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 10
Residents appeared to favor down payment assistance, home repair assistance for owners, rental assistance, mortgage assistance, and energy efficiency improvements . However, residents indicated no clear preference for specific homeless solutions, with multiple types of solutions receiving roughly equal preference; generally, all homeless solutions included in the survey received a moderate to high need ranking.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What priority level should be given to the following types of affordable housing programs if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 11
Community Services
Resident respondents also demonstrated a lack of consensus on priority support service needs, with potential stand-outs being mental health services and domestic violence services.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What priority level should be given to the following types of support services if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 12
Residents generally felt neutral or positive about the availability of public transportation routes connecting all areas of the City.
Economic and Community Development
Respondents were asked about priority economic development initiatives and demonstrated a slight preference for job creation/retention and job training programs.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What priority level should be given to the following types of economic development initiatives or projects if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 13
On the topic of challenges preventing individuals from getting jobs, residents selected lack of childcare, skills gap, educational barriers, lack of stable housing, and criminal background as top barriers.
What priority level should be given to the following types of community development/revitalization initiatives or projects if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 14
When asked about infrastructure improvements, resident respondents appeared to favor street/road improvements most strongly, followed by parks.
Consolidated Plan: Community Engagement Survey Results
What priority level should be given to the following types of public infrastructure improvement initiatives or projects if implemented during the next 5 years?
Figure 15
Social and Recreational Services
There was a wide range of responses on questions regarding the availability of programs like sports leagues and summer camps, and organized group activities and enrichment programs for youth in low- to moderate- income households, as well as the availability o f recreational facilities in low - to moderate -income neighborhoods, with respondents skewing toward agreement that these opportunities and amenities are available.
There was generally equal priority given to programs that respondents felt were lacking for low - to moderate-income persons, but the top answers were:
• Childcare assistance (68)
• Workforce development/job training (52)
• Home repair and improvement grants/low interest loans (46) • Down payment assistance (41)
• Health and wellness (e.g. affordable healthcare, mental and behavioral health) (40)