The planned closure of Housing Matters’ day services – including public showers, bathrooms and mail access — is being framed as affecting only people experiencing homelessness, but it will also hit Santa Cruz’s working poor who rely on these essentials, writes housing scholar Erin Gaede.
homelessness
Posted inLatest News
Packages, family letters and social security: Inside the final months of a tiny Santa Cruz mail room that provides a lifeline for the homeless
In a room barely larger than a cubicle, 1,710 lives intersect through benefits, letters from family, bulletin boards and daily routines. The Housing Matters’ mail room reveals how something as simple as a physical address can underpin survival and dignity for the region’s unhoused. The mail room is slated to close in March, along with other day services at the Coral Street campus. Local officials are racing to find a replacement.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Bob Dylan tribute show at Kuumbwa Jazz to raise funds for Housing Matters
Housing Matters will be the beneficiary of a Nov. 21 tribute to Bob Dylan at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center to help raise money for the Santa Cruz nonprofit’s shelters and other programs.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Watsonville food pantry offers veterans food and connections to resources
The Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building hosts a special food pantry every Tuesday to connect veterans who are unhoused or struggling with groceries and essential resources.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Why are Housing Matters’ vital day services for unhoused people being closed?
OPINION: Housing Matters — Santa Cruz County’s largest homelessness nonprofit — plans in March to shut down its Coral Street day services, including public showers, bathrooms and a mailroom. The closure comes with no clear transition plan, writes Marsa Greenspan, a former Housing Matters employee.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
What veto drama and a Texas trip tell us about a potential shift in California’s homelessness strategy
California is under pressure to embrace more temporary homeless shelters and programs that require sobriety, at the potential expense of long-term housing.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
In the Public Interest: Santa Cruz County’s RV demolition plan tests the limits of California’s homelessness enforcement
What’s happening this week around Santa Cruz County politics & policy, courtesy of Lookout correspondents, plus stories you might have missed.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
ACLU concerns stall Santa Cruz County plan to allow immediate demolition of towed vehicles
County supervisors delayed a vote on a planned new ordinance that would allow tow companies to immediately destroy abandoned and inoperable vehicles after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter raising a series of legal concerns with the proposed law.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Will Measure C make a difference?
OPINION: After Lookout’s editorial board requested more transparency about how Santa Cruz has used its limited funds for affordable housing and prevention of homelessness, Yes on Measure C campaign volunteer Andrew Goldenkranz responds with a deeper dive into funding and results.
Posted inLatest News
As day center set to close, unhoused residents worry about a future without showers, mail and phone charging
Replacing the showers, mailroom, charging plugs and other services that Santa Cruz homelessness nonprofit Housing Matters plans to end in March will be a tall task, due to funding shortages and a lack of space for such an operation.
