There is an issue in our county that continues to create problems for citizens.
Many view it as a crisis.
Homelessness creates many problematic spin offs in our community and many residents are concerned about the problem for various reasons. Some for compassionate reasons (i.e. they want more social assistance, support and wrap-around services provided for our homeless community--as some in this camp refer to as the "un-housed") Others are concerned about an erosion in the quality of life for citizens that live in our community and pay taxes (e.g.--these folks are concerned about the campgrounds in the woods, fires, illegal behavior, public urination/defecation, crime, panhandling, drug use/needles, etc.)
Meanwhile, the county has a little over $4 Million from the American Rescue Plan specifically set aside for uses to assist the homeless.
Last week, we learned of very large ($3Billion) additional Federal monetary resources (grants) which may be available to us for this problem as well.
So now the question is, what do we as a county want to do with the money we have and any money we may get?
I attempted in vain to get a meeting scheduled with the city --a joint BCC/City Council workshop meeting to brainstorm ideas on this topic specifically. That effort ran into resistance from the city and members of the BCC so I agendaed the conversation to two BCC meetings to find the pinch point--which I did find.
(Meanwhile, many with whom I have spoken do not agree with the approaches the city has taken with its $3 Million dollars for addressing homelessness.)
So, at the second meeting on the Homelessness topic last Thursday the BCC discussed what we wanted to do with the money--and the opinions were varied.
We settled on the approach of having staff create an application protocol for 501(c)3 organizations that are working in this space to seek board funding for assistance with this issue of homelessness in our county. The good thing about spending the money this way is that it will 1.) Allow each commissioner to pursue initiatives/models to assist with this problem based upon our individual preferences and ideas. 2.) will require a full board vote for any successful applicant to receive funding.
I believe this approach will produce results and will enable initiatives to help homelessness in ways that are approved by the full board, measurable, sustainable and not "one big idea" or the "all the eggs in one basket approach."
With this system, we can double down on programs that achieve objectives and solve problems while eliminating funding for programs that do not work or show little benefit.
And now, with this model as the way forward and based upon input I heard at Thursday's workshop---a joing BCC/City meeting will not be necessary--which in and of itself is a positive development in the eyes of many as it eliminates the need for yet another government meeting to "discuss" problems.
