Know someone or work with clients who live in overcrowded or less-than-ideal housing situations? Information is available on how to help keep their living spaces clean and healthy and how to work with their landlords – in English and Spanish.
Housing Heroes honorees and Change Agent Housing Committee members.
On October 27th the SMC BHRS Change Agent Housing Committee held its 9th Annual Housing Heroes Event to celebrate individuals and organizations for their spirit of community and caring. More than fifty clients, service providers, county leaders and community members gathered to recognize this year’s honorees.
Each year, clients nominate people and organizations who have gone above and beyond in supporting them in finding and keeping housing. This year’s Honorees were: Abode Housing Services San Mateo County, Kelsey Fuller (Caminar), Rosemary Henson (SMC Property Owner), Kevin Bond and Shirleen McDougal (Whitley Property Management), Miguel Hernandez (SMC Property Owner) and Mary Taylor Fullerton (BHRS Change Agent Housing Committee Founding member). Honorees also received Commendations from the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and Congresswoman Jackie Speier.
There were many heartwarming moments as clients and others who nominated the Honorees shared why they felt that the recipients were Heroes deserving of recognition for their compassion and extraordinary efforts to support people and families most in need of safe, stable and affordable housing opportunities. Some said that having housing opportunities not only changed lives, but in some cases saved them, too.
The 2nd Annual Property Owner and Manager Appreciation event preceded the Housing Heroes Awards.
The San Mateo County Housing Operations and Policy (HOP) Committee held its 2nd Annual Property Owner and Manager Appreciation Event immediately before the Housing Heroes event on October 27 in recognition of the critical contribution these individuals make to our community in helping people obtain and maintain housing. Having a permanent and stable place to live is integral to our clients in achieving wellness and recovery. About forty property owners/managers, their families and colleagues attended the event to network, learn more about supports available to property owners and managers and to receive well-deserved recognition for the great work they do every day.
San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley and BHRS Director, Steve Kaplan co-hosted the event and Department of Housing Rental Programs Manager, Cindy Chan presented programs and services provided by the Housing Department.
San Mateo County Mental Health Association (MHA) staff presented a special award to property owner Jack Ram and his family for their outstanding willingness to house at-risk clients and families. The entire room was moved by a heartfelt story of a client (and tenant of the Ram family) who shared his story of moving from homelessness to stable, affordable housing and what a difference the opportunity has made in his life. He described feeling like a partner with his landlord in being a good tenant and a member of the community he lives in. The Ram family has made providing opportunities for at-risk clients and families a priority for their rental units.
Jack Ram and family with Supervisor Don Horsley (center) and Georgia Peterson (seated) from Mental Health Association.
The Housing Operations and Policy Committee is a collaboration of agencies and service providers who meet regularly to develop strategies for collaboration, new programs and improvement of supportive housing programs and opportunities in San Mateo County. Committee members are: Department of Housing/Housing Authority, Human Services Agency, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, the California Apartment Association Tri-County Division, Samaritan House, HIP Housing, Caminar, Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA) and others.
2015 Recipients: Ohevet Fotofini, Georgia Peterson, Kevin Jones (Telecare) and Karen Francone. Not shown: Housing Industry Foundation and James Saberi.
Finding affordable housing in San Mateo County is more challenging than ever, especially for people who are low-income, have a mental health challenges, and/or are recovering from a substance use disorder. On October 27, San Mateo County leadership and San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services will honor individuals who have helped people with mental health and substance use conditions find or stay in housing so they can recover and maintain good health.
The Housing Heroes Awards Ceremony will be held on Thursday, October 27 from 3:00pm to 4:30pm at the Sobrato Center, 350 Twin Dolphin Drive, in Redwood City. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided! More information is available at smchealth.org/meeting/9th-annual-housing-heroes-award-ceremony.
The 2016 San Mateo County Change Agent Housing Committee has selected the following recipients as this year’s Housing Heroes:
While one in four people have a mental health condition, less than half get the help they need. One way to help is to provide stable, affordable housing so people have the opportunity to recover. When the Housing Heroes Award was created in 2008, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the county was $1,583 per month. Today, that same apartment would rent for $2,638– an increase of over 65%. The work of “Housing Heroes” is now more important than ever.
The public is also invited to join County leadership, the Department of Housing, Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, and other community partners to hear about the current housing market and the innovative new programs to support property owners and managers at the 2nd Annual Property Owners and Managers Appreciation event. This will be held just before the Housing Heroes award ceremony, on Thursday, October 27, 2016 from 1:15pm to 2:45pm at the Sobrato Center in the Bay Combined Room. More information is available here. Please RSVP to Mariella Dunleavy, Department of Housing at (650) 802-3300 or mdunleavy@smchousing.org.
Affordable housing in pipeline: San Mateo County approves $8.7 million in spending for range of developments
Seven affordable housing projects were approved for funding Tuesday that will create 365 new units and rehabilitate 38 others.
The units will be set aside for veterans, seniors, individuals with mental illness and extremely-low income households.
It’s the latest move by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to use Measure A money to combat the housing crisis in partnership with nonprofit builders.
The board approved spending about $8.7 million on projects in South San Francisco, Colma, Redwood City, East Palo Alto, North Fair Oaks, Moss Beach and North Fair Oaks.
About $2 million in federal Moving to Work funds were approved to be spent on the projects and another $1 million comes from Redwood City’s former redevelopment agency, according to the county’s Housing Authority.
The remainder of money, about $5.6 million, comes from Measure A, the half-cent sales tax approved in 2012.
The board has placed the sales tax on the November ballot for a 20-year extension and has pledged to apply much of it toward the creation of affordable housing in the future. It is called Measure K on the ballot.
In the past three years, the county has seen an increase of 40,000 new jobs but only 3,000 new homes, according to the Housing Leadership Council.
The average rent for a one-bedroom unit in the county is now $2,638, a 38.9 percent increase in four years, according to the Housing Authority.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill on July 1st allowing the state to use $2 billion in bond money to house and treat mentally ill Californians who are homeless.
The bipartisan bill, called “No Place Like Home,” will send counties bond money from future Proposition 63 mental-health revenues to create affordable-housing programs for mentally ill homeless people.
Prop. 63, which is also known as the Mental Health Services Act, passed in 2004 and has raised more than $13 billion through a 1 percent income tax on residents who earn more than $1 million a year.
Supporters of the bill, AB1618, said it will put a roof over the heads of tens of thousands of the state’s most vulnerable residents while giving them the care they need. AB1618 includes funding to help homeless youths and veterans. Read the full story on SF Gate. Learn more about MHSA in San Mateo County.
In San Mateo County, rents increased by almost 70% from 2010 to 2015. The San Mateo County Mental Health and Substance Use Commissions recently compiled a Housing Forum Report documenting the challenges of finding safe and affordable housing and the impact it has had on our clients.
Homes are considered “affordable” to only about 2 out of 10 very low-income households and 4 out of 10 low-income households in San Mateo County. As a result, some of these individuals find themselves cycling in and out of homelessness, incarceration, shelters, and hospitals. Lack of safe and affordable housing is one of the most powerful barriers to recovery. Read the Commission’s full report.
Yesterday’s meeting of the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Recovery Commission focused on how the current housing situation in San Mateo County is impacting individuals and families with mental health and/or substance use challenges. Testimony about personal experiences were given to the Commission. Rather than summarize and provide commentary I want to share some of the comments that were expressed to give you, the reader, a sense of how serious the housing crisis is for our consumers/clients and family members.
“Nearly impossible to keep hope” “I don’t know if it’s worth trying”
“Depression escalating, lost hope” “You don’t know how to survive”
“Devalued as a citizen” “If I die I at least won’t worry about being homeless”
“When I was using at least I was housed, as I have worked on my recovery I am homeless”
“Barely hanging on” “Lowest point in my life and my children’s”
“When you have to keep moving it is like having your soul in a box”
“When I had stable housing my kids flourished” “Vulnerable to scams”
” More wealth less housing for us” “Couldn’t help but fall into deep depression”
“People in abusive relationships are staying, nowhere else to go”
“No stability for me, none for my child” “I am doing my part”
“Without stable housing-on the streets, hospital, jail”
“If you don’t have housing you only have stress”
“A constant jigsaw puzzle without all the pieces”
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2015 Housing Hero award (from left): Ohevet Fotofini, Karen Francone, Kevin Jones (Telecare) and Georgia Peterson. Recipients not pictured: Housing Industry Foundation and James Saberi.
Safe, affordable housing is an essential part of the mental health recovery process. 1 in 4 people have a mental health condition but less than half get the help they need. One way to help is to provide stable, affordable housing so people have the opportunity to recover. Join members of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and BHRS to honor individuals who have helped people find or stay in stable housing so they can recover and maintain good health. Hear inspiring stories from BHRS clients about these caring and compassionate Housing Heroes:
Thursday, October 22 at 3:00-4:30 pm
Redwood Shores Library Community Room, 399 Marine Parkway, Redwood City
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