The Homeless Point-in-Time Count (PIT) is one of the most important opportunities we have to determine whether or not we’re making progress to end homelessness. The PIT only happens once every two years. The next one is coming up on January 27, 2017. We need your help!! Volunteer for the 2017 Count! (no prior experience necessary) … Continued
Last time we looked at some of the major economic, social, and political factors that have contributed to “modern homelessness.” While we have the benefit of hindsight to evaluate these national trends, there’s sadly not a lot that we can do locally to affect them (you can of course share your thoughts with our congressperson). … Continued
Did Homelessness Start in 1982? Homelessness – or a lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence – has of course existed for a very long time. Thinking just about the United States, in the 19th century tens of thousands of people experienced homelessness as cities (and the country itself) rapidly grew and urbanized. … Continued
For the past six months the City has been working with Downtown Streets Team, as well as community members Paula Doubleday, Diane Doubleday, Carol Thompson, Kelly London, and Rich Goldstein, on a creative way to address panhandling. When we first set out, we landed on a simple but critical insight – people panhandle because … Continued
As we continue to find new ways for the City, the County of Marin, our services providers, and our community members to come together to address homelessness (check out the Marin Voice article this week highlighting the positive impacts of collaboration), I think it is important to remember that at the end of the day, … Continued
As we continue to work to end homelessness in San Rafael, it is critical that we simultaneously create lively and active public spaces filled with residents, visitors, businesses, and customers. In July of 2016 the City welcomed aboard Danielle O’Leary as our new Director of Economic Development and Innovation to help achieve that goal. Danielle brings: … Continued
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
