From: PETER S LOPEZ <peter.lopez51@yahoo.com>
To: H-R-A Group <Humane-Rights-Agenda@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, 7 May, 2009 20:54:58
Subject: Humane-Rights-Agenda Recession opens up apartments for homeless: Riverside, California
Recession opens up apartments for homeless
The current economic downturn has brought a surprising benefit for those who help the homeless.
Apartments are more readily available.
"A year ago we were begging people for a place; now people are calling us," said Don Smith, who manages efforts to aid the homeless in Riverside, Calif.
Having enough affordable housing has been the biggest challenge. But other barriers also prevent the homeless from obtaining and remaining in housing -- substance abuse, mental health issues and inadequate income.
In the first year of the city's street-to-home program, 18 homeless people have received housing and three are pending. The Census Bureau put the countywide homeless population in 2007 at around 4,500.
"There are a lot of hard-working people out there, including the homeless, who simply cannot afford housing in our market," Smith said.
The aim of the city program and of groups that aid the homeless is to keep people in a home and find homes for people living on the streets. The stereotype of someone who is homeless -- unkempt, asking for money with bags or shopping cart in tow -- makes up about 10 percent of Riverside's homeless population, Smith said. But those considered chronically homeless take up 50 percent of the resources.
Riverside started its effort about three years ago and saw a 15 percent decrease in the first two years, Smith said.
Panhandlers at freeway ramps are not usually homeless, team members say. Police ticket or arrest aggressive panhandlers and try to connect them to groups that can provide resources, said Lt. Vic Williams. But a motorist donating perpetuates the problem.
"It'd be a lot more effective for people to donate or support those organizations, " he said.
These days, when the city's homeless outreach team finds a person like James Ramsey, who wants to start living in an apartment, the process may take a couple months instead of much longer.
For now, Ramsey is in a hotel awaiting apartment life. That doesn't mean he stays cooped up inside. He likes being on the streets during the day. But he wants a safe place to sleep at night and the main selling point is a stove and refrigerator.
"I can go and relax and get something to eat without standing in line," he said.
Ramsey, 62, is among the up to 800 people the four team members meet with annually. The team van carries forms, files and a copier to keep track of important documents for the clients. The staff helps homeless residents apply for veteran's benefits, for example, or for disability or social security. Other times residents need an identification card or bus passes to pick up prescriptions.
On one recent day, homeless outreach specialists Caleb Anderson and Rosa Govea met with a client in front of the library. They could have spent all day at that location. People asked who they were, how to get an ID card or for help with other issues.
The staff develops a plan specific to each person listing the steps it will take to get them into an apartment. After meeting with someone, the workers verify the person's story, run a criminal background check and determine what resources may work.
At North Park in Riverside, specialists Roman Aguilar and Arcadia Oropeza-Kendall met with two men who recently moved into an apartment. But Joe Ray, 44, still needs help getting an ID, working through the unemployment process and getting into detox. His roommate, Red Martin, 63, said they are behind on rent and utilities after trying to live on $700 a month. But they don't want to go back to being homeless. The biggest challenge to getting an apartment before was finding enough money for the deposit and first month's rent.
"I just got my social security going but it's not enough to pay the rent," Martin said.
Riverside and San Bernardino counties have 10-year plans to end homelessness. Both are in their infancy.
San Bernardino County is about to launch its first street team in about a month, said Christy Hamilton, a homeless-services staff analyst. That team will focus on San Bernardino, Rialto and Colton and then expand.
Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone recently ratcheted up efforts to house Southwest Riverside County's homeless population, which has increased due to rising unemployment and people losing their homes, by pledging $2.5 million of county and federal dollars to build a shelter in the Murrieta area.
The newly formed Temecula-Murrieta Rescue Mission, a joint venture of a Temecula-area church and the Orange County Rescue Mission, hopes to operate the shelter. No site has been picked, but officials said it would likely be in Temecula.
(Press-Enterprise writer Aaron Burgin contributed to this story. Contact Sonja Bjelland at sbjelland@PE. com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews. com.)
Must credit The Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif.
Education for Liberation!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka: Peta
Sacramento, California, Aztlan
Yahoo Email: peter.lopez51@ yahoo.com
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Liberate Brother Leonard Peltier and Prisoners of Amerikan Fascism!
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