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Council Accepts Report on Efforts to Combat Rising Homelessness

Supports Letter to Port advocating environmental mitigation

On November 19, City Council accepted the 2024 Progress Report on The Road Home, A City’s Five-Year Strategic Plan to Prevent and Respond to Homelessness in Alameda. Health and Human Services Manager C’Mone Falls reported that despite the City nearly doubling its capacity to shelter and house its residents over the last three years, unsheltered homelessness is increasing and the need for investment remains.

Council supported a letter to the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners reiterating environmental concerns about the Oakland Airport Terminal Modernization and Development Project and advocating for mitigation measures.

Background

The Road Home’s mission is to prevent first-time homelessness, address disparities, reduce chronic homelessness, minimize time spent homeless, and decrease returns to homelessness. Its goals are to:



  • Secure a housing future for all Alamedans.
  • Increase access to homeless emergency response services.
  • Mobilize the citywide response to homelessness.

The report lists three strategies to address each goal (see table). Since initiating The Road Home in 2021, the City adopted the 2023-2031 Housing Element, which is a blueprint for how and when the community will meet the housing needs of current and future community members, including people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

The Road Home goals and strategies. Image presented at the November 19, 2024 City Council meeting, Agenda #7-1, Exhibit 1: Progress Report.

Falls reported that primary challenges to ending homelessness include an affordable housing shortage, the high cost of living, a stigma against those with mental health issues, and barriers to housing for large families, people with disabilities, and seniors.

Progress on securing a housing future for all Alamedans

As part of developing and adopting the Housing Element, the City inventoried unused, underutilized, and available properties and identified suitable sites for rehabilitating or developing permanent housing.

When the City adopted The Road Home, there were 596 affordable housing units in Alameda. Since then, it has added 226 affordable housing units (including ownership and rentals). The City also has added approximately 1,300 affordable housing units to its pipeline. Units in the affordable housing pipeline include 90 Permanent Supportive Housing units to be operated by the Alameda Housing Authority.

Residential and mixed-zone districts must now permit multifamily and shared housing opportunities. To encourage landlords to rent to low-income households, the Rent Program waives its annual fee when a landlord rents to a household with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher. If property conditions displace a tenant from a rental property, the landlord must pay temporary tenant relocation fees until the tenant can reoccupy the property. Finally, the City provides preference points for households that live or work in Alameda in affordable housing lotteries where it has control over filling vacant units.

Alameda Post - supply of temporary housing in Alameda
Alameda temporary housing. Image presented at the November 19, 2024 City Council meeting, Agenda #7-1, Exhibit 1: Progress Report.

Progress on increasing access to homeless emergency response services

To increase access to homeless services, the City expanded flexible funds to support households, added temporary housing, and expanded outreach.

Building Futures and St. Vincent de Paul allocate flexible funds. They must serve a minimum number of people and consult with the City before distributing more than $1,500 to one household. During Fiscal Year 24-25, flexible funds will expand beyond households currently experiencing homelessness to include those at risk.

The City launched the Guaranteed Income Pilot Program, Rise Up Alameda, to provide ongoing financial assistance for homelessness prevention. Rise Up provides $1,000 monthly to 150 low-income Alameda households for two years.

Since 2021, the City has quadrupled its temporary housing supply. The Midway Shelter continues to provide 25 beds for women and children experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. The Day Center Overnight added 17 emergency overnight beds; Emergency Supportive Housing added 24 beds; and Dignity Village added 61 beds. Since Dignity Village opened in 2023, it has housed 94 people. The City intends to expand shelter capacity by relocating the Day Center to a larger site.

Alameda Family Services provides a clinician offering one-on-one counseling and de-escalation services at Dignity Village. The program is expanding by adding group mental health services, workshops, and staff training.

The City expanded outreach through the Homeless Outreach Team seven days a week. The City offers behavioral health outreach through the Community Assessment Response and Engagement (CARE) Team, which provides a 24/7 alternative response to non-criminal individuals facing a mental health crisis. Shower services are now available twice weekly through the Day Center and Christ Episcopal Community Church.

Progress on mobilizing citywide response to homelessness

To mobilize citywide response, the City has sought to expand community involvement, strengthen the response system by improving service coordination and data collection, and engage the community in workforce development.

This year, Christ Episcopal, Trinity Lutheran, and Twin Towers United Methodist churches will operate the winter warming shelter, providing 20 beds from December 1 through March 30. Faith-based organizations partner with the Alameda Food Bank to provide free hot meals through the Dine and Connect Program on Monday evenings. In the winter, Building Futures provides a limited number of supportive hotel stays for individuals over 65 or with chronic health issues.

Alameda Post - Alameda's Point in Time counts
Alameda PIT counts. Image presented at the November 19, 2024 City Council meeting, Agenda #7-1, Exhibit 1: Progress Report.

The general community mobilized through the Point in Time (PIT) Count. In January 2024, 76 community members surveyed and counted unhoused individuals as part of a biennial PIT Count required by HUD.

All programs serving unhoused people in the City now fully participate in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This database tracks homeless individuals and families, allowing service providers to share data and coordinate services. The City strives to ensure service providers meet regularly to share resources and improve coordination.

The Alameda Point Collaborative (APC) Workforce Development Program matches 20 to 25 individuals with employment opportunities annually. APC provides employment services and on-the-job training to residents of their supportive housing program and encourages hiring residents for APC’s construction and reconstruction projects through labor agreements.

The City, Dignity Village, and its Resident Advisory Board are developing workforce support through the Senior Community Service Employment Program, a job training program for low-income, older adults.

Alameda Post - a City of Alameda Housing System Map including a complex web of housing barriers and solutions and services
City of Alameda Housing System Map. Image presented at the November 19, 2024 City Council meeting, Agenda #7-1, Exhibit 1: Progress Report.

Results and Needs Assessment

Despite the City nearly doubling its capacity to shelter and house its residents over the last few years, homelessness is increasing. Point in Time data shows that in 2024, the City saw a 72% increase in homelessness compared to 2022, from 264 to 455. In Alameda County, Albany, Dublin, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, and Oakland also saw increases. Berkeley, Emeryville, Fremont, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, and Union City saw declines.

The City conducted a Needs Assessment. Social service providers expressed the difficulty of serving individuals from the street to successful permanent housing. Individuals come to services with extraordinary trauma. Feedback emphasized the need for more affordable housing, staff capacity, and service funding. Social service providers shared their challenges with the broader system that requires significant administration and complex formulas to qualify individuals for services that do not naturally collaborate. The City’s Housing System Map reveals a complex array of service providers.

The Assessment identified a need for family shelters and housing for seniors. Large families were the most challenging population to find housing.

The Road Home encourages the City to consider long-term, flexible funding for those at risk of losing their housing when a small monthly subsidy would eliminate the risk. Directors identified the guaranteed income pilot program as a successful housing intervention; they hope it will expand. This is consistent with feedback asking for more preventative resources.

Staff turnover has been challenging. As the City undertakes new strategies, it will need highly skilled administrative staff, yet there already is insufficient staff to meet current needs. Directors highlighted the need for case managers who can help individuals navigate the entire housing process. They noted that it can be difficult to retain employees at low salaries that are not commensurate with their skilled and challenging work.

Council response

Councilmember Tracy Jensen requested an annual update rather than a report every few years, emphasizing the importance of staying informed on homeless issues. She highlighted the needs of seniors and families and suggested establishing community partnerships to help. Council accepted the report and looked forward to the opening of the Wellness Campus.

If you are homeless or at risk, call the Alameda Homeless Hotline at 510-522-HOME (4663) Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On evenings or weekends, call 2-1-1 to access county resources. If you’d like to help our unhoused neighbors, please check the City’s list of organizations needing volunteers and donations.

Letter to the Port of Oakland on the Oakland Airport Final EIR

On November 6, Council received an update on the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Oakland Airport Terminal Modernization and Development Project, which noted that the FEIR failed to adequately address the City’s considerable environmental concerns. On November 19, Council reviewed staff’s response letter (link downloads document) reiterating the City’s concerns and advocating for mitigation measures. The letter included air quality and noise technical studies.

Council voted 4-0 to support the letter to the Port Board, which documents City concerns and preserves arguments should Council direct staff to pursue litigation. Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer was absent.

Contributing writer Karin K. Jensen covers boards and commissions for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at https://linktr.ee/karinkjensen and https://alamedapost.com/Karin-K-Jensen.

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