CORRESPONDENCE - 25C - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orozco, Norma From: Tim Johnson < Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2018 1:55 PM To: eComment; Martinez, Michele; Solorio, Jose; Tinajero, Sal; Benavides, David; Villegas, Juan; Pulido, Miguel; Sarmiento, Vicente Cc: Kaka, Hafsa; Godinez, Raul; Cortez, Robert Subject: Agenda Item 25C- Mercy House Categories: Correspondence Council (cc Hafsa Kaka, Raul Godinez, and Robert Cortez)... Thank you for putting on the agenda this very important item - the service provider for the soon to be opening homeless shelter. Thank you for realizing that the city of Santa Ana, despite doing more than our fair share, still needs to do more. I hope that this is not the end though. I am pleased with the City choosing a locally based group to perform the services needed at the up and coming interim homeless housing facility. I know that other citizens have also expressed being please with Mercy House being chose also, so great job! I am also pleased that this will be a Santa Ana only facility. One that our SAPD will be able to utilize and homeless caseworks will be able to refer in those from Santa Ana without fear of being held behind others at The Courtyard. As you know, we have a major issue in this city and the county in general. We need to continue to provide for the least among us in order to help them recover and become a contributing part of society. This will not only help them but also help the other residents in the city who are experiencing quality of life issues. The more folks we can get off the street, the better we will be. A 200 -bed emergency housing facility will be just one stepping stone. I applaud us for taking this step but it is only a step, not the last step. I urge you to continue to pursue permanent supportive housing facilities across the city and the county. I urge you to utilize bridge housing programs to help those who will eventually be at the new housing facility so that they can transition out of the shelter and into more stable housing. We can do this. Please let the community know how we can help. Now obviously, it costs a substantial amount of money to fund this type of operation. However, we also know it costs a significant amount of money to continue with the status quo. I would venture to guess that the City could use some help in funding this venture. One of the stakeholders who is currently spending a significant amount of money on the homeless right now are the various Emergency Rooms and Hospitals. However, they are not contributing to be part of the local 200 -bed solution. I would suggest that a stakeholder who benefits from housing the homeless and therefore their costs will decrease should be willing to contribute to be part of the solution. Obviously, it may be on the back end funding (i.e. the ER/Hospitals first realize the savings and then contribute), but I would recommend that discussions be held with the various medical providers who may be saving money through reduced health care costs in order to determine how they may help with this solution. I also urge you to publicly put pressure on the County to utilize their own land for use in providing a county facility... they currently own and have appropriately zoned a 100 -acre site in Irvine. Santa Ana is stepping up. I hope that the County will also- they cannot expect us to do it all. Finally, I know that location is always an issue. I would urge staff to put together some educational seminars and other material to allow those that may be impacted to have questions answered and to be provided knowledge. The fear of the unknown is real with this topic and human nature is to always think the worst when in fact the reality is not that bad when measures are taken to keep safety and hygiene a top priority. Thanks, Tim Johnson W