CVAG expands homeless program, acquires $1.7 million
A local homeless outreach program will expand. The Coachella Valley Association of Governments approved $334,000 a year for CV Housing First.
“Initially we thought we’d be able to get $865,000 in funding. We’re very fortunate because of the commitment of the county, other cities, desert health care district, the tribe, we ended up with $1.7 million,” said Sabby Jonathan, mayor of Palm Desert/Chair of CVAG Homelessness Committee.
The program allocating additional homeless resources across the Coachella Valley. Jonathan says the expansion comes after a successful seven month review of CV Housing First, which is contracted with the non-profit, Path of Life Ministries.
“Tracking the clients served by Path of Life there is about an 84 percent success rate in terms of getting homeless off the streets and into transitional and permanent housing,” Jonathan said.
Six of the 9 desert cities contributed $103,000 toward CV Housing First. Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Indio are not contributors, but according to Sabby the three cities invested in other homeless services partnered with Path of Life Ministries. It’s an option Cathedral City councilman Mark Carnevale says he may consider.
“If we don’t get what we’re asking for, we’ll definitely change. We’ll probably just go to CVRM [Coachella Valley Rescue Mission] or another provider that offers the service that we need,” Carnevale said.
“We’re very happy to meet with Cathedral City and basically got a lesson on how things can be done better. The homelessness committee said this is how we can further invest our relationship with Path of Life to address those needs and make the process more effective,” said Sabby.
The expansion will increase homeless outreach and rehabilitation services.
