[New post] State of homelessness in Mendocino County: More resources needed to address complex issues
gqlshare posted: "In the world of homelessness in Mendocino County, Sage Fae Wolf is one of the "sages" working in the arena of homeless services provision. Wolf is the Director of Integrated Health at Redwood Community Services (RCS), which includes oversight of the Build" The Willits News
In the world of homelessness in Mendocino County, Sage Fae Wolf is one of the "sages" working in the arena of homeless services provision. Wolf is the Director of Integrated Health at Redwood Community Services (RCS), which includes oversight of the Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center, an RCS apartment complex, supportive housing projects and adjunct services including the agency's Enhanced Care Management Program.
When asked about the "state of homelessness" in the county, Wolf replied, "in Mendocino County, the state of California and the country, there is a higher level of need than the resources available to meet the need."
A June, 2023 study of homelessness conducted by the University of California San Francisco's Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative paints one of the most comprehensive pictures of homelessness compiled since the 1990's. The over 90-page study is broken down into five main sections: who experiences homelessness in California, the pathways to homelessness, experiences during homelessness, barriers and facilitators of returning to housing and policy recommendations.
The study, which involved deep-dive interviews with 3,200 homeless individuals, states California is home to 12 percent of the nation's population, 30 percent of the nation's homeless population and half of the nation's unsheltered population. More than 171,000 Californians experience homelessness daily- the largest population of people experiencing homelessness in the United States.
The study confirms many "tried and true" efforts to eliminate homelessness have been based on limited perceptions and misunderstandings about who unhoused people are, how they came to be homeless and how local and state systems have failed to address what is clearly a community crisis, particularly visible in rural areas such as Mendocino County. Luckily, says Wolf, more resources and better approaches to the multitudinous, interconnected problems are being implemented locally.
"There's a ton of work and collaboration happening throughout the county," she explains. "Our county's Continuum of Care program looks at homelessness across the county, develops strategies and manages state funds and HUD homeless funds. Over the last five years, we have become more organized and developed collaborative systems where we're working together in a positive way."
Wolf regularly gets asked why people become homeless.
"We've learned through services and data such as the statewide study that there is a fairly simple reason for homelessness: if you have income, you have housing. If you have a social circle, you'll have people who are able to catch you if you fall. If you don't have those things, you'll have homelessness. If you have no money for rent and no relationships to help when things go downhill, the likelihood of homeless increases."
Ninety percent of unhomed Californians are from California, according to the UCSF study. 75 percent of respondents lived in the same county where they became homeless. Two-thirds possessed at least a high-school diploma.
Homelessness is directly connected to communities where low wages do not keep up with inflation. Vulnerabilities such as structural racism, sexual violence and incarceration are major features of unhomed individuals. Unsurprisingly, suicidal ideation, substance abuse, anxiety and depression are measurably higher in unhomed populations.
Also unsurprising is the correlation between mental health issues and self-medication, which for unhomed individuals manifests in a high level of methamphetamine use. A shocking 56% of respondents reported using meth three or more times weekly. But, says Wolf, it's important to put that data in perspective.
"Substance use challenges are prevalent whether you're housed or unhoused. When you're homeless, literally everything you do is being done in public. When you live on the street, science shows you are living in constant trauma. This has a major impact on cognitive function. Stress and trauma kill your brain. Simple tasks like making it to medical or mental health appointments and keeping track of your prescriptions become overwhelming. People end up self-medicating because they are trying their best to live with that trauma and stress. Unhoused people have a much harder time accessing appropriate care. And then, when someone feels ready to get help, the need is greater than the availability of slots in rehabs or other supportive programs. And if you don't get that person enrolled within that next few days, you're going to lose them back to drugs."
Another surprising fact from the study is that California's homeless population is aging, with nearly half of the single adult homeless men being 50 years of age or older.
Barriers to becoming re-homed include incredibly long wait times for subsidized housing (with three years being a common wait time), the inability to access enough cash to put down deposits, a lack of access to a phone and personal documents, and limited contact with housing case managers. One out of five respondents came to homelessness from an institutional setting. And most people reported that a small intervention such a lump sum payment or rental assistance at a critical time would have made the difference between being housed and being unhoused.
One out of three respondents reported having spent at least one night in jail during their period of homelessness. Other common experiences included the loss of personal belongings, reduced or no access to benefits, and discrimination- reported by eight out of ten survey participants.
Once housed, Wolf notes that part of getting people re-homed is helping people heal family and personal relationships.
"There are a number of projects in Europe that address poverty and homelessness. It's more of a 'Let's take care of our people' approach. That's what we're trying to promote with COC: joint efforts that build up our housing stock and our support systems, so when people get re-homed, they also get simultaneous stabilization services to help them keep that housing."
The obvious answer to ending homelessness is housing, but in Mendocino County's profound housing shortage affects people across every income level. In 2023, California had only 24 units of housing available and affordable for every 100 extremely low-income households, defined as people whose monthly income is $950 or less.
"For people living on the streets, housing resources are very limited. Rural Communities Housing Development Company and the Danco Group are partnering with Continuum of Care to develop housing projects such as the Orr Creek Commons and The Plateau on the coast, with additional projects in the works," says Wolf.
"We're going for a permanent housing focus- not just the rental subsidy side. The State is investing in the actual building and development of apartments. Thus far, the State is putting funds in their budget for no-income folks," Wolf continues.
Wolf stresses the importance of not criminalizing homelessness.
"Studies in the US have shown that when you house people and provide them with support, the expenses for law enforcement, fire departments and emergency rooms go down. When you don't take care of people you have a higher cost, including jail, substance use treatment, and other expensive interventions."
Trust gets eroded when unhomed people hear they "chose homelessness."
"Homelessness is one of the most visible evidences of our failures as a community and society. That visibility prompts questions: Why does this happen? How do we fix this? Our elders, our classmates, our single mothers and our disabled neighbors are members of our unhoused community. As a community, when we say, 'That's just going to be their lot in life,' or even worse: 'They chose this,' we get stuck in that false narrative."
The UCSF study has an extensive section on policy recommendations for local, state and federal agencies. A few of the recommendations include increasing access to substance use treatment, facilitating harm reduction protocols in hospital emergency rooms, creating comprehensive strategies for homeless elders, removing local permitting barriers to affordable housing and creating pilots for short-term cash subsidies to help at-risk people to access housing or catch up on late rents.
"Work is happening," says Wolf. "There is a desire to expand a local mobile outreach unit partnered with law enforcement. This is a pilot project between the police and the county addressing people setting up encampments. From my perspective, this is a positive effort and there is a desire to expand on it. In Fort Bragg, the city and social service providers are partnering and doing amazing work addressing homelessness on a street level."
One of the most commons misperceptions that Wolf encounters is that that people come to Mendocino County to "be homeless."
"Building Bridges reports that 86% of their guests have deep connections to Mendocino County. People went to school here. They have family here. They are not moving here from other communities because it's nicer here. These are our people. They're part of our community. This is one myth I would really like to dispel."
If "handouts don't help," what does?
"Read the statewide study on homelessness. The four-page summary is very complete. The entire report is accessible, readable and non-academic. We can all better educate ourselves about the experience of homelessness. Have those dinner table conversations and raise awareness within your family and social circles regarding the reality of homelessness. That, in and of itself, is huge."
All the service agencies and organizations receive grants, but usage of funds often comes with stringent conditions. "Funding for things like street outreach is hard to find. Receiving donations provides huge support. An example is supporting people with rental application fees. If you can't even pay the $35 to for an application, you're stuck. Things like this don't usually fall into grant funding streams."
"I love our folks. I love to hear their stories. Their stories so much more complicated, and they have so much to offer our world and community. These are some of the most generous and giving people- people that really do get thrown away."
"I believe that we all do care- even the most harsh and judgmental among us. Most of us don't really look at homeless people. Humanize the people experiencing homelessness and connect with them. When you do actually connect- stop, smile and make eye contact, what you discover are human beings who are just as deserving of love, respect and care as any of us," Wolf concludes.
To read the Benioff study visit https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Report_62023.pdf
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