A majority of California’s roughly 180,000 people experiencing homelessness have health insurance through Medi-Cal. Providers predict that many will lose insurance under President Donald Trump’s upcoming work mandates even if they qualify for exemptions.
homelessness
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Santa Cruz County failed our most vulnerable during extreme weather
Santa Cruz County failed its unhoused residents during weeks of severe winter storms by not activating its extreme weather shelters, despite having staff, supplies and facilities ready, writes Sara Coon, an overnight site manager for the extreme weather shelter hosted by People First of Santa Cruz County. She believes narrow policies ignored the deadly risk of prolonged exposure to cold, rain and flooding, leaving people without dry clothing or warmth and contributing to preventable deaths. This was not a lack of resources, she writes, but a failure of leadership that demands immediate reform.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Expiring housing vouchers and new citizenship requirements: Housing Authority braces for policy changes that could cost people their homes
The Housing Authority of Santa Cruz County is facing a number of serious concerns this year, including the expiration of pandemic-era emergency housing vouchers and proposed changes to federal policy that could mean more households are ineligible for assistance. However, the organization’s executive director is “cautiously optimistic” that it will be able to provide an alternative.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I hope my UCSC class will help our community conversation on addressing homelessness
Housing advocate Don Lane has invited journalist and author Brian Barth to talk to the community – and to his class of 25 UC Santa Cruz students studying homelessness – to discuss why encampments exist and what we should do about them. He hopes the Feb. 27 event at the downtown library will help deepen our understanding of the issue and involve the next generation in finding solutions.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
The facts on Housing Matters day services don’t match the narrative
Housing Matters board chair Ray Bramson’s recent Lookout op-ed twists the narrative on homeless day services at the Santa Cruz nonprofit, writes advocate David Davis. Davis has worked at the Homeless Persons Health Project for 10 years and at the Coral Street campus for 15 years, and believes Housing Matters’ claims about reach and housing placements significantly overstate the facts. Bramson wrote his piece in response to Davis’ critical Lookout letters to the editor. Davis writes that Housing Matters’ decision to stop offering day services, including showers and mail access, at its Coral Street campus in March is short-sighted and more about optics on Coral Street than residents’ well-being.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Housing Matters has helped thousands; let’s argue about homelessness and day services honestly
OPINION: A recent letter to the editor echoes real frustration about homelessness in our community, but relies on factual inaccuracies about Housing Matters, writes Ray Bramson, president of the nonprofit’s board of directors.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Q&A: Matt Mahan on how growing up in Watsonville shaped run for California governor
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was raised in Watsonville, says his working-class upbringing in the Pajaro Valley — shaped by immigrant farmworker communities, Catholic schooling and parents who lived paycheck to paycheck — informs his bid for California governor.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
I saw a body on my morning walk and did nothing: What kind of place is Santa Cruz County becoming?
Writer Gabriel Kittle-Cervine saw a person passed out on a Santa Cruz County sidewalk and gave them a wide berth. The encounter made him realize how desensitized we’ve all become to suffering. From houselessness at home to violence nationwide, oppression has become normalized, even among those who care deeply. Amid ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, local protests and growing calls for accountability, he challenges Santa Cruz County residents to confront the human cost of complacency and asks whether the county’s values truly align with the community it claims to be.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Letter to the editor: Housing Matters has lost its way
In a letter to the editor, a Santa Cruz resident outlines what he sees as homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters losing its way.
Posted inLatest News
Tweaks to point-in-time count outreach could result in more accurate tally this year
Volunteers from all over Santa Cruz County met at the crack of dawn Thursday to conduct this year’s point-in-time count, an annual attempt to estimate the number of unhoused community members. While the count is never complete, housing professionals hope that a few changes to their strategy will help generate a more accurate count this year.
