Properties needed for new homeless program

Helping Hands of San Benito County, a new program to offer permanent housing to 11 to 13 individuals or families who have experienced homelessness, needs its own helping hand from property owners in Hollister.
Cindy Parr Messina, the executive director of the Homeless Coalition of San Benito County, and C.J. Valenzuela, the housing program coordinator for the county, will be bringing a letter to property owners that will explain the goals of the program as well as benefits of offering an apartment to be used for the program.
The Homeless Coalition is looking for one, two and three bedroom apartments that are close to services such as bus routes and grocery stores. The units will go to individuals as well as families.
Messina said she and Valenzuela made a presentation to the San Benito Association of Realtors a few weeks ago, but had not received any feedback of property owners who may be interested in the program.
The Homeless Coalition has been able to make movement on this new program since they were selected to receive a grant from Housing and Urban Development. Messina said the last she had heard the funding was expected to be delayed, but they hoped to have residents moving in to units by January.
Messina said once the program begins, the Homeless Coalition will cover all deposits, insurance and repairs other than normal wear and tear on the units.
“We pay the full amount,” she said. “The grant is an automatic renewal and we need to emphasize the case management is a big part of it.”
To be part of the program, each resident will sign a contract that they agree to certain conditions such as working with a case manager, staying sober if they have a substance abuse problem, or receiving treatment for a mental illness. If a resident chooses to leave the program and the apartment is vacant, Messina said the Homeless Coalition will cover the rent on the empty unit until they get another client lined up for the program.
Since the Homeless Coalition of San Benito County became part of a Continuum of Care with Monterey County, Messina said she has met with agencies that run a permanent housing program such as this. She said she would be talking to one of the program managers, who helped establish a similar program seven years ago to find out how they got property owners on board.
“We may just start calling and touch base with owners themselves,” Messina said.
Messina said she has selected about 11 clients from the homeless shelter who meet the criteria for the program. To be eligible clients have to have a documented disability that is recognized by the Housing and Urban Development office, such as a physical or mental illness, or a substance abuse problem. Parr said staff members at the Community Services and Workforce Development office will be updating information about the clients with whom they work from the winter family shelter into the county’s Homeless Management Information System to select eligible families.
“We do have clients who would rather stay out on the streets,” she said. “We tried to identify those who want help. We are hoping they are wanting this for themselves as much as we are.”
The letter Messina and others will be circulating to potential partners lists four benefits for property owners: That the lessee will be the Homeless Coalition of San Benito County so rent is guaranteed, whether or not a tenant is in the unit; there will be fulltime supervision of the tenants; the Homeless Coalition provides all deposits, insurance and repairs other than normal wear and tear on the premises; the tenants will be screened by the Homeless Coalition “and will be quality tenants who deserve a helping hand.”
Messina said there is not a time limit on how long clients can stay in the housing, though the goal is to help them get to a point where they can move out on their own.
Doug Emerson, a board member for the Coalition, said the grant is for $207,966 and all the money will stay in San Benito County.
Emerson said they would be looking for at least a year lease for the property owners to allow some continuity for tenants.
“But there has to be some provisions for property owners,” he said. “They need to have an out if they decide they want to sell the property, for example.”
During the emergency shelter season, from the end of November to April, Messina said they served 86 clients. Of those clients, 56 were new intakes, meaning they had not stayed at the shelter in the past.
“But of those 56 new intakes, 19 were able to move on into permanent housing,” she said. “They used it as a transition.”
Messina and Emerson said the San Benito County Planning Commissioners also approved zoning that will allow a permanent emergency shelter in the north part of the county, near county services, and on Southside Road. The ultimate goal is to open a year-round shelter, though Messina and Emerson said they would likely be focusing on the Helping Hands program for now while the nonprofit saves up money for the permanent shelter.
“This whole thing goes hand in hand with the 10 year plan,” Messina said, of a 10-year plan to end homeless that was put out by the Continuum of Care last year. “Just in San Benito County this will have a huge impact on families and individuals.”