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April 27th, 2007, 08:45 PM
The Redding Homeless Alliance (hosted by Redding Loaves and Fishes) held its fifth in a series of monthly "Community Forums on Homelessness" on April 7, 2007. RHA is continuing to build a solid base of support in the community, and committees are working to address several aspects of the homeless crisis in our area. Of particular concern to our group is the dramatic increase in the number of children facing the traumas and dangers of living on the streets.
According to the City of Redding/Shasta County Homeless Continuum of Care Council (or COC), the children comprised 37% of the 2,584 individuals who were homeless in Shasta County in 2006, an increase of 5% over the previous year, making them the fastest growing segment of that group. Domestic violence is our third leading cause of homelessness, and women are the sole support of most homeless households
Research conducted by RHA members into the availability of permanent housing, transitional housing programs, and emergency shelter space revealed that there is an extreme shortage of housing affordable to working families on the lower end of the pay scale, the elderly poor, and the disabled due primarily to the massive destruction of low-income housing by the City of Redding in connection with "redevelopment". The very limited amount of subsidized housing available in Shasta County has waiting periods that average three years, and our dozen or so transitional housing projects cater almost exclusively to people with substance abuse problems ( a group which comprises less than one-tenth of our local homeless population). Shasta County’s only general-population homeless shelter, the Rescue Mission, can accommodate fewer than 200 people even by putting down mats on every available inch of floor space. The Mission plans to use its new building (now under construction) to house an additional 25 men going through the Mission’s drug treatment program.
During the "State of Emergency" declared in January when the temperature here fell to an excruciating 19 degrees, local administrators refused to open the armory or other warming centers for the approximately twelve hundred men, women and children the COC estimates were forced to sleep outdoors or in vehicles during their latest survey period. A sheriff’s department representative stated that warming centers would only be opened in the event of "a widespread power outage or snowstorm". RHA will continue its efforts to bring this life-threatening situation to the attention of the community, and will rally community support to pressure local government to make humane accommodation for the homeless before the cold weather sets in again this winter.
RHA is working with the national civil rights organizations to challenge a city ordinance enacted by the Redding City Council on November 7, 2006 which allows six-month jail terms and $1,000 fines to be imposed upon anyone found camping within the city limits due to the area’s critical shortage of low-income housing and emergency shelter space. RHA members are in the process of collecting information for that purpose, since the apparent goal of this ordinance is to drive the homeless to other parts of the state or country where they are likely to encounter the same shortage of housing. We are also gathering information in regard to the number of families and individuals who have been denied emergency shelter due to the lacks of space. The Mission’s "overflow" has been a topic of discussion at more than one COC meeting.
RHA provided requested information to the office of Senator Denise Ducheny, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 303. Among other things, SB 303 will require California cities to designate land specifically for low-income housing, including housing to accommodate "the elderly, persons with disabilities, families with female heads of households, and persons in need of emergency shelter." This bill would prohibit cities from changing the designation and selling this land for other purposes, as the City of Redding did with the land where the new Lowe’s Home Improvement Center is now located. It would also encourage cities to apply for state funding available through an infrastructure bond measure passed last year for the construction of low-income housing. At Senator Ducheny’s direction, RHA will continue its efforts to help get this very worthwhile bill enacted.
The Redding Homeless Alliance has educational teams available to speak to churches, civic groups, businesses and schools. Do You Have Ideas To Fight Poverty ?
http://reddingloavesandfishes.com/
The Redding Homeless Alliance (hosted by Redding Loaves and Fishes) held its fifth in a series of monthly "Community Forums on Homelessness" on April 7, 2007. RHA is continuing to build a solid base of support in the community, and committees are working to address several aspects of the homeless crisis in our area. Of particular concern to our group is the dramatic increase in the number of children facing the traumas and dangers of living on the streets.
According to the City of Redding/Shasta County Homeless Continuum of Care Council (or COC), the children comprised 37% of the 2,584 individuals who were homeless in Shasta County in 2006, an increase of 5% over the previous year, making them the fastest growing segment of that group. Domestic violence is our third leading cause of homelessness, and women are the sole support of most homeless households
Research conducted by RHA members into the availability of permanent housing, transitional housing programs, and emergency shelter space revealed that there is an extreme shortage of housing affordable to working families on the lower end of the pay scale, the elderly poor, and the disabled due primarily to the massive destruction of low-income housing by the City of Redding in connection with "redevelopment". The very limited amount of subsidized housing available in Shasta County has waiting periods that average three years, and our dozen or so transitional housing projects cater almost exclusively to people with substance abuse problems ( a group which comprises less than one-tenth of our local homeless population). Shasta County’s only general-population homeless shelter, the Rescue Mission, can accommodate fewer than 200 people even by putting down mats on every available inch of floor space. The Mission plans to use its new building (now under construction) to house an additional 25 men going through the Mission’s drug treatment program.
During the "State of Emergency" declared in January when the temperature here fell to an excruciating 19 degrees, local administrators refused to open the armory or other warming centers for the approximately twelve hundred men, women and children the COC estimates were forced to sleep outdoors or in vehicles during their latest survey period. A sheriff’s department representative stated that warming centers would only be opened in the event of "a widespread power outage or snowstorm". RHA will continue its efforts to bring this life-threatening situation to the attention of the community, and will rally community support to pressure local government to make humane accommodation for the homeless before the cold weather sets in again this winter.
RHA is working with the national civil rights organizations to challenge a city ordinance enacted by the Redding City Council on November 7, 2006 which allows six-month jail terms and $1,000 fines to be imposed upon anyone found camping within the city limits due to the area’s critical shortage of low-income housing and emergency shelter space. RHA members are in the process of collecting information for that purpose, since the apparent goal of this ordinance is to drive the homeless to other parts of the state or country where they are likely to encounter the same shortage of housing. We are also gathering information in regard to the number of families and individuals who have been denied emergency shelter due to the lacks of space. The Mission’s "overflow" has been a topic of discussion at more than one COC meeting.
RHA provided requested information to the office of Senator Denise Ducheny, who is sponsoring Senate Bill 303. Among other things, SB 303 will require California cities to designate land specifically for low-income housing, including housing to accommodate "the elderly, persons with disabilities, families with female heads of households, and persons in need of emergency shelter." This bill would prohibit cities from changing the designation and selling this land for other purposes, as the City of Redding did with the land where the new Lowe’s Home Improvement Center is now located. It would also encourage cities to apply for state funding available through an infrastructure bond measure passed last year for the construction of low-income housing. At Senator Ducheny’s direction, RHA will continue its efforts to help get this very worthwhile bill enacted.
The Redding Homeless Alliance has educational teams available to speak to churches, civic groups, businesses and schools. Do You Have Ideas To Fight Poverty ?
http://reddingloavesandfishes.com/
