UPDATE July 25, 2019 

* Financial clarification edits made on August 5, 2019 

The City and the Community recognize the overwhelming need to meet the demand for housing and services that will halt the flow of individuals and families entering homelessness, from prevention and emergency shelter, to addiction services and permanent supportive housing.  With regard to housing, the City of Woodland, Yolo County and two non-profits (Friends of the Mission and Woodland Opportunity Village) will develop a campus, East Beamer Way, consisting of homeless housing and services: 61 Permanent Supportive Houses (PSH) with a small community center on City-donated land using manufactured units about one third the cost of conventional housing. The project will include the relocation of Walter’s House (drug and alcohol treatment center), back-filling of the existing facility with Bridge Family Housing; the relocation of the Fourth & Hope Shelter, and the backfilling the current facility with graduates of the Walter’s House program. 

East Beamer Way will add 190 beds, with wrap-around supportive services by the County and the non-profits. Multiple funding sources for the 61-unit PSH project include:

• Friends of the Mission secured a loan from the State’s No Place Like Home (NPLH) program:
  • NPLH Competitive loan $4.585M 
  • NPLH Non-Competitive loan $262K  
• The City of Woodland received a $680K grant from Partnership HealthPlan
• $900K contribution from the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund 
• $2.5M provisional commitment from a private funder

The project is shy about $2.5M. When funding is secured, the developers may break ground as early as early 2020.  The No Place Like Home loan requires all funding committed in order to secure The Friends of the Mission’s 55-year State loan. Additionally, the private funder will only match money received from a non-governmental entity. The Friends of the Mission, City of Woodland, Yolo County, and Woodland Opportunity Village continue to seek other potential funding sources to complete the necessary project financing.

ABC 10’s Reporter Mike Duffy prepared an evening news story on Woodland’s homeless situation that was both candid in the challenges facing the community and complementary of the City’s efforts, particularly HOST’s operations assisting the homeless and maintaining order. The segment included a visit to the East Beamer Way site at CR 102 and E. Beamer. https://www.abc10.com/mobile/article/news/local/woodland/could-this-woodland-site-be-the-solution-to-homelessness/103-074d568a-a25a-443d-b0d0-2f4c03096297

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The City of Woodland is actively engaged in local, regional and statewide efforts to address, manage, and prevent homelessness. Collaboration with state and local public agencies, local service providers and the broader community is critical to advancing our collective efforts and leveraging limited resources to the greatest benefit.

City of Woodland HOST

Inter-departmental coordination of the City’s own homeless response and initiatives, as outlined in our adopted Homeless Action Plan is the Homeless Outreach Street Team (H.O.S.T.), under the supervision of the Woodland Police Department. City of Woodland H.O.S.T 

H.O.S.T. welcomed a new officer to the team in January 2019. Officer Greg Ford joins the team with 15 year of experience on the Woodland Police Force. He is knowledgeable about the community and the impacts of homelessness within the City. He is quickly learning new engagement skills and already made connections to both his team members and the population he is serving. H.O.S.T identifies, assesses, refers, and follow-up those that express need and desire to change circumstances in any area of their lives.

H.O.S.T. success is measured by rapport built, trust gained, and connections established between law enforcement and individuals in need of service. This is essential to empower individuals to make life-long changes to improve their circumstances.

Social Services Manager 

The Social Services Manager position is primarily responsible for coordination of the City’s homeless initiatives and programs with Yolo County, neighboring jurisdictions and service providers. The position also assists with referrals of homeless individuals and families to available services.

Ms. Kristen Cline, a certified Mental Health Clinician, has been appointed to the position, effective September 4, 2018.    She joins the City of Woodland from Yolo County’s Health and Human Services where she worked for 17 years, and most recently has been working closely as a Homeless Outreach Navigator with our City’s HOST program. For information on how to get in touch with Kristen, please visit the Social Services Manager webpage by clicking here.  

Public Agency and Service Provider Coordination

Multi-Disciplinary Team Meetings - Under the County’s facilitation, Woodland Police, representative from the City Manager’s Office, Dignity Health, and others meet monthly to coordinate efforts on individuals living homeless to address barriers of housing and services.

Yolo County Health and Human Services (HHSA): yolocounty.org/government/general-government-departments/health-human-services/homeless-services

Institute for Local Government: http://www.ca-ilg.org/homelessness-0

Collaboration on State Funding Opportunities

Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP): https://www.bcsh.ca.gov/hcfc/aid_program.html

No Place Like Home: http://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-funding/active-funding/nplh.shtml

Friends of the Mission: http://friendsofthemission.org/