Homeless Garden Project is one step closer to owning its longtime Natural Bridges Farm after years of regulatory hurdles, with a key zoning decision this week that, if approved, would clear the way for the nonprofit to purchase the 4-acre property and begin construction on a permanent home as early as 2027.
homelessness
Posted inHousing & Development
Live Oak Landing opens months after slated, set to offer interim housing and pathways to permanent housing
Housing Matters announced that its $5 million Live Oak Landing interim housing program was officially open and would be welcoming participants immediately, stating that construction finished months ago but there had been final permitting and occupancy approval delays. Advocates are hopeful that the project can help take people off the streets, but also expressed frustrations over the lack of transparency with its delayed opening.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
‘Where are we supposed to go?’: Watsonville’s new camping ban deepens anxiety for unhoused residents
For eight years, 58-year-old farmworker Alejandro Garcia has struggled to find a safe place to sleep in Watsonville. His anxiety is now compounding as the city implements new rules that ban camping along rivers and sloughs, allowing crews to clear encampments without warning.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Watsonville approves ‘no encampment zones’ along sloughs, levee and downtown plaza
Watsonville City Council will decide whether to make changes to its camping ordinance, establishing “no encampment zones” in areas such the Struve Slough, the Pajaro River levee and other public spaces around the city.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Judge shoots down Trump’s homeless funding shift: ‘The hallmark of unreasoned decision making’
In a legal victory for California, a federal judge rejected President Donald Trump’s efforts to funnel money away from permanent homeless housing.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Trump renews push to shift homelessness funding. What’s at stake
The Trump administration wants to shift more money to homeless shelters that require sobriety, a change that would disrupt California’s “housing first” policies and threaten to put nearly 15,000 Californians back on the street.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
A Lookout View: Coral Street toilet shortage a stark contrast to local pandemic response – why doesn’t public health matter more?
Portable toilets miles away aren’t enough to solve the loss of public bathrooms and showers on Coral Street in Santa Cruz, the Lookout Editorial Board writes. Our local leaders actively took on public health issues when they confronted COVID-19. Now, they must end the slow and bureaucratic response to the Coral Street crisis before we have a public health emergency.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Citing budgetary woes, Housing Matters moves to decrease capacity at Rebele Family Shelter and Recuperative Care Center
Homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters announced Friday that it will reduce capacity at the Rebele Family Shelter on Coral Street and its off-site recuperative care center at the former Salt Air Lodge on Leibrandt Avenue, as both are “operating with significant budgetary deficits.” CEO Phil Kramer said the move is likely to take place over the next month or so, but none of the current occupants will be forced out early.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Did Newsom’s $3.8 billion hotels-to-housing program pay off? We filed 100 records requests to find out
Records analyzed by CalMatters provide a first-of-its-kind look into how California’s historical investment in homeless housing played out.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California blocks Trump administration from withholding homelessness funds
California for now has prevented the Trump administration from changing priorities in homelessness funding to favor temporary shelters rather than long-term housing.
