Homeless Coalition looks to outside agency for help

As the San Benito County Homeless Coalition prepares to offer its first permanent housing to residents with disabilities, mental illness and substance abuse, locals have looked to some of the services offered in Monterey County as a guide.
Cindy Parr-Messina, the executive director of the Homeless Coalition, said she has talked with several shelter housing directors in Monterey as her agency prepares for the increased case management that will come with permanent housing.
“They’ve actually shared documents as far as what needs to be done,” Parr-Messina said. “I can’t give props enough because they’ve really baby-stepped us this whole way and been so supportive of San Benito County.”
One of the agencies that has served as a role model is Interim Inc., a nonprofit that is devoted to providing permanent housing to Monterey County residents who have mental health disabilities, sometimes coupled with substance abuse problems.
“We’ve talked with them to develop their response, how best to access resources and that kind of thing,” said Susan Alnes, the director of development and communications for Interim Inc.
Alnes said their agency runs on a belief that permanent housing is “absolutely essential” for those with mental illness.
“One thing that happens with adults with mental illness is that job stability is difficult,” she said. “To ensure income is difficult – without affordable housing, they can’t afford to live here because the cost of living is so high.”
Like Interim Inc., which provides permanent housing for residents rather than transitional housing, the federal grant that is pending for San Benito County will provide permanent residency for about a dozen individuals or families with a known disability.
“Imagine you are in transitional housing and you have a two-year frame,” Alnes said, “and then you are going to have to move out. That doesn’t create mental health stability.”
San Benito’s permanent housing program will include case management, but the housing units themselves will be leased from already existing properties in the community. Parr-Messina said she is working with property owners to get letters of intent so they can get the federal funds released soon.
Parr-Messina said the directors of Shelter Outreach Plus received a similar grant to the one San Benito County’s homeless coalition will be getting about seven years ago.
“There are obstacles, but nothing too big we can’t overcome,” Parr-Messina said. “A lot of what people talk about is that the reporting can be intimidating.”
Parr said she plans to make sure the data she has to collect is input immediately and that she stays on top of it so she doesn’t have to input all the data at the same time.
“It is really important that this community understand that because of the partnership in Monterey that people from that county will start coming here,” Parr said. “We need to make a clarification that this is not what it is. We are mimicking resources they have and pulling them into our county to offer the resources that our community is entitled to as well.”