Palm Springs council pens letter urging county for homelessness help
In a letter dated May 24, the Palm Springs City Council plead its case about an issue that affects the city, and the Valley as a whole. The “homelessness crisis” is at its most critical in Palm Springs in the summer, due to the combination of triple-digit heat and the dearth of a local County Shelter.
Homelessness is on the rise in Palm Springs; according to the annual Point-In-Time (PIT) homeless count, there were 196 homeless people in the city in 2019, a 55.5% increase from 2018’s number of 126. The county as a whole saw a 21% spike in homelessness from year-to-year.
“By way of background, the County closed Roy’s Desert Resource Center in the summer of 2017. Since that time, the entire Western Coachella Valley community, a population of over 150,000 people and 346 unhoused people at any given time, has been without a functioning shelter,” the letter reads. “Roy’s provided an important place for respite for those people experiencing homelessness that no longer exists.”
The letter states that the shuttering of Roy’s places a 30-minute car ride between homeless people in Palm Springs and the nearest County shelter.
Roy’s closure, the letter argues, didn’t see a proportional reallocation of funds, however.
The City of Palm Springs is currently spending approximately $1 Million a year on homelessness and homelessness services for the City of Palm Springs. We would like additional information about the amount of funding that the County is providing to the entire Coachella Valley for all homelessness services. Desert Healthcare District has allocated $2 Million for homelessness in the past couple of years. Meanwhile, while the County initially funded $6 Million for Roy’s shelter, the County allowed it to close. Furthermore, the County used to contribute $857,000 annually for operations of Roy’s. Yet, the County is currently funding the Housing First program, the replacement of Roy’s, at nearly one-third of the level of past funding.
Darin A. Schemmer, Communications Director for District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, issued the following statement response:
I have had ongoing conversations with the City of Palm Springs on crisis housing for the homeless and today, we had a very productive meeting with Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs officials. While the county currently spends considerable resources on homelessness and housing programs, we realize the need to address the humanitarian needs of our homeless population as we enter the summer months. I look forward to the continued collaboration with the cities, CVAG, the Desert Healthcare District and our county departments to find short- and long-term solutions for the unsheltered residents of the Coachella Valley.
The following services and programs are efforts that have been ongoing or implemented by the county since the closure of Roy’s two years ago:
· County Support to CV Housing First
· Conversion of Roy’s into Augmented Board and Care Facility (Pre-Construction Phase)
· 24/7 Mental Health Urgent Care
· Establishment of Countywide Deputy CEO for Homeless Solutions
· County Ten-Year Plan to Reduce Homelessness
· Behavioral Health HHOPE Program
· Whole Person Care Homeless Outreach
· AB 109 Housing Support
· Emergency (Motel) Housing
· Behavioral Health Crisis Response Counseling Teams
· Crisis Stabilization Unit
· Psychiatric Hospital Facility
· Crisis Residential Treatment
· Substance Abuse Prevention Treatment
· County-Operated Federally Qualified Health Clinics
· Cool Centers
· Section 8 Housing Voucher Program
· Nightengale Manor
· Housing Authority Affordable Housing Units
· Shelter Plus Care Program
· Housing Support Services
· VASH Program
· Project Home Homelessness Prevention Funding
· HOPWA
· Housing Opportunities Program
· Project-Based Vouchers
· Vista Sunrise Apartments
· General Assistance Program
The full letter, attached below:
Brooke Federico, public information officer for Riverside County, revealed the county is spending approximately $55.6 million on services and projects to help with homelessness in the Coachella Valley in the Coachella Valley. According to Federico, this money is going towards things like, converting Roy’s into a a board and care facility with a capacity of 92 beds, permanent supportive housing in Palm Springs, Desert AIDS Project expansion for affordable housing, and behavioral health crisis and outreach teams.
Fact sheet with all the projects and the approximate costs for these projects below:
Local homeless rates from year-to-year:
District 4 Homeless Numbers City 2018 2019
Cathedral City
46
82
Palm Springs
126
196
Desert Hot Springs
58
45
Indio
50 52
Coachella
75 51
Palm Desert
43 23 La Quinta 4 9 Indian Wells 0 2 Mecca 0 0 Rancho Mirage 8 6
Unincorporated
30 98
Total homeless individuals in local communities in 2019: 564
Total homeless individuals in local communities in 2018: 440
