At Salida workshop, public can learn how one community ended chronic homelessness
As part of a Stanislaus Homeless Alliance retreat Friday, an official from the first community in the United States to end chronic homelessness will talk about how her community accomplished that.
The retreat is open to the public and runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Salida Public Library, 4835 Sisk Road. The event is free, but officials are asking people to register in advance. More information also is available at stancounty.com.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development certified Bergen County, N.J., in 2017 as the first community in the nation to end chronic homelessness. HUD’s definition of chronic homelessness includes having a disability, such as a substance abuse disorder or serious mental illness, and being homeless for at least a year or repeatedly.
That does not mean there aren’t homeless people in Bergen County, an affluent, highly dense urban area with about a million residents. The last annual HUD point-in-time count tallied about 300 homeless people, but only four were homeless and not in a shelter, according to Julia Orlando, director of the Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services Center.
She said as the chronically homeless are identified, they are placed in housing and services. And placing someone in the county’s only emergency shelter for single people — a 90-bed facility that is part of the housing, health and human services center — does not count as housing.
“People are not sleeping outside, on benches, in parks and encampments,” she said. “You have successfully addressed your unsheltered population.”
People who are chronically homeless can be the most vulnerable among the homeless and cause the most distress to themselves and their communities, including repeat visits to emergency rooms, jails and generating frequent calls to the police over their behavior.
Orlando said Bergen County has kept its HUD status of ending chronic homelessness and said two other communities — Lancaster, Pa., and Rockford, Ill. — have joined Bergen County in reaching that distinction.
She said Bergen County’s success has been built on the housing-first approach, which focuses on getting people into housing with services even if they are struggling with sobriety and mental illness.
Bergen County also offers comprehensive services at one location at the housing, health and human services center. The center is in Hackensack, the county seat, and is a couple of blocks from downtown. Orlando said it’s also been critical to change mindsets and develop relationships in the community, work that takes time and effort.
“We are not going to end homelessness in this country if we are tolerant of homelessness and intolerant of homeless people,” Orlando said, citing her favorite quote. “We have to make homelessness unacceptable.”
Orlando is the keynote speaker at the retreat. The agenda also includes local officials providing a comprehensive look at the projects, funding sources and strategies being used here to address homelessness. Stanislaus County officials have said the approach being followed here mirrors what has taken place in Bergen County, though the communities are different.
The Stanislaus Homeless Alliance was formed this year and held its first meeting in May. The alliance’s members include elected officials from throughout the county, and its goal “is to develop one vision, one program strategy, one funding strategy, and one annual report card” on homelessness, according to its website.
Orlando said it’s not uncommon for her to speak in other communities. She said this year she has spoken in Pennsylvania, New York and Arkansas. Stanislaus County is spending $1,864 to cover her travel, food and lodging costs.
