In a post a few weeks ago, I shared that people experiencing homelessness typically fall into one of three buckets. At the risk of making some even broader generalizations, as the number of challenges a person faces increases (e.g. no job, loss of connection to family, addiction, mental illness, etc.), it becomes: Harder to establish … Continued
The City-Ritter Memorandum of Understanding At the August 15th City Council Meeting, the Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ritter Center to work in partnership on a number of operational changes at Ritter. In an effort to continue to provide critical resources for people experiencing homelessness, while simultaneously addressing the growing concerns … Continued
by Andrew Hening, Director of Homeless Planning & Outreach Celebrating Ongoing Partnership As a quick refresher, Ritter Center has been looking for a new site for over three years, and in March, the City Council established a subcommittee comprised of Mayor Phillips, Councilmember Gamblin, and City staff to help intensify the search efforts. At the … Continued
Even though we know we shouldn’t attribute the characteristics of a minority to the overall group, we do that all the time with homeless people. Communities that are ending homelessness have understood that individualization is the key to success. When we do this, new insights emerge, and we begin to see that there is a … Continued
The City has been working closely with the Ritter Center on efforts to relocate their services. Two key parameters are guiding the search – the new location cannot be Downtown, and it cannot be in a residential area. The Public Process … Step Zero – Like any development project in San Rafael, it all begins … Continued
At the City, we field a wide variety of questions and concerns regarding homelessness in our community. One of the most common questions we get is “What is the County of Marin doing to address the issue?” In our second “Get to Know” blog post, I would like to introduce you to Ashley Hart McIntyre, … Continued
On Monday night, the City Council held a follow up public hearing to review the Ritter Center’s Use Permit. There has been a lot of information circulating about this issue, and the point of this blog is to provide clear and accurate information from the City’s point of view. The most important takeaway from this … Continued
Two Fridays ago I wrote to you about the Chamber of Commerce’s “Cleaning up Myths about Homelessness” event. I left work that evening feeling incredibly excited about the growing, positive momentum to actually end homelessness in our community. While I feel like that energy and excitement is building every day, as I have also said in past … Continued
Today I had one of the most uplifting mornings I’ve had in a long time. After months of planning, the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce hosted a “Cleaning up Myths about Homelessness” event at the County’s Health and Wellness Campus in East San Rafael. Every year the Chamber runs the San Rafael Leadership Institute (of which I … Continued
If the City of San Rafael has a secret weapon in our mission to end homelessness, it’s Lynn Murphy. I recently had the chance to spend a morning in downtown San Rafael with Lynn, and she was kind enough to answer a few of my questions. What is your position with the City of San … Continued
