About $1.6 million worth of help for the
homeless is on its way to Napa County as part of the federal American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Intended to connect homeless and
at-risk individuals and families with housing and other services, the
funds are a fraction of a recent $42.7 million allocation of so-called
Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program awarded to 31
California local governments and organizations, according to Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office.
The award brings California’s tally of Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program funds to a total of $189.1 million.
The
Napa County funds are slated to go to residents making 50 percent or
less of the area median income for individuals and families, Jim
Featherstone, assistant director at Napa County Health and Human
Services, said.
are not meant for tackling problems caused by the mortgage crisis, but
are instead intended largely for low-income renters in danger of losing
their homes because of job losses. The idea is to prevent homelessness
before it happens, in addition to helping people transition out of
local homeless shelters, he said.
About 60 percent of the
federal money must be spent within the first year and local services
are expected to launch in October, Featherstone said.
“The feeling is if they get this help pretty
rapidly ... then they could be able to get the kind of employment they
need to stabilize and keep their families together,” he said.
The
program will provide short- and medium-term rental assistance, money
for security and utility deposits and payments, help with moving costs
like truck rentals and storage fees, Featherstone said. It may also be
used to help qualified locals repair their credit, gain legal
assistance and seek landlord-tenant counseling. In spite of Napa
County’s wealthy image, the funds are desperately needed, he added.
“I
think in general because of the image of our county ... it’s really
difficult for us at times to apply for these types of funding because
people assume that everyone here has everything they need,” he said.
“We’re thrilled to be able to offer this relief for the families out
there that are struggling.”
Health and Human Services will work
with local agencies including Catholic Charities, Community Action Napa
Valley, Legal Aid of Napa Valley and Fair Housing Napa Valley. The Napa
County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve pending contracts
with these agencies.
Charlene Horton, program director of the
Napa Valley Shelter Project — a program of Community Action of Napa
Valley — said it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how many homeless live
in Napa County. However, Horton said her agency is seeing “three to
four times as many people as usual” seeking rent assistance in recent
months.
In the past year, she said, local homeless shelters have
seen about a 10 percent increase in the number of families admitted.
For single adults, the numbers are down about 5 percent, she said.
Although
Horton credits a recent countywide effort to reduce homelessness with
keeping these numbers relatively flat, the economy seems to be
counteracting some of these efforts. Horton has high hopes that the
incoming funds will make a difference for needy families and
individuals.
“We’re seeing more working families. ... If we can
keep somebody in their housing, it’s a heck of a lot smarter and it
helps them (by saving) their credit. Once they become homeless ... it
becomes almost impossible to house them. Very few landlords are willing
to take that risk,” she said.
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