ARTICLE
The purpose of the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote economic vitality and prosperity. We value a healthy and productive economic community. We engage, we influence and the business community thrives as a result. The challenging issues of addressing our homeless population is not a one word solution. It takes a collaborative effort from all of us. That is why we stand ready to step forward to offer assistance to our city leaders. Today’s article is a partnership message from our City Manager. It is with an open mind that we share his update with all of you. On behalf of the Chamber, let’s work together to solve this crisis. Casey Beyer, CEO, Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce Dear Community Partners, I've written in the past to share information about the local impacts of homelessness and actions the City is undertaking to provide some relief to the entire community. As you no doubt read in media across the state, homelessness is a vast and ubiquitous societal challenge and communities are taking actions that were completely unforeseen, even months ago, to address it. Santa Cruz similarly is forging a new path -- and I want to update you on what's occurring. There is a lot going on this week with regard to the City’s response to homelessness in our community: we are opening our temporary, managed River Street Camp and closing the encampment in San Lorenzo Park. The River Street Camp will officially open on Wednesday February 28, and by Friday, March 2nd the San Lorenzo Park encampment will be fully closed. The River Street Camp is a temporary (3-4 month) measure to alleviate street homeless. The River Street Camp is not a replacement for the homeless encampment at the Benchlands. The two camps are distinctly different. The program goals for the River Street Camp are: 1. To create a safe and secure place to sleep for those experiencing homelessness in our community. 2. To provide easy access to services that may enable an exit to homelessness. 3. To provide relief to the community impacts of having unsheltered individuals residing on streets and in public spaces. To accomplish these goals, the River Street Camp will be fully managed, with staff onsite 24/7, a strong offering of social and health services in partnership with the County, strong security, hygiene resources and required shuttle service on/off the campsite. We are creating a place where homeless individuals can be safe and stable and will engage in services to help their exit from homelessness. We are also working hard to minimize impacts to the surrounding community. The River Street Camp is operating under a soft opening Monday and Tuesday to intake a few Camp Hosts who will live and work at the Camp, and then a graduated move-in of general campers will occur on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We estimate there will be about 50 tents and about 60-80 persons living at the Camp; adding campers in phases the latter half of this week will allow the City to assess and cap the River Street Camp at a manageable capacity. Many campers at San Lorenzo Park will transition to the River Street Camp, with all campers phasing over by Friday morning. Campers who are not transitioning to the River Street Camp on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday will be required to leave San Lorenzo Park on Wednesday, February 28th. The San Lorenzo Park encampment will be fully closed by Friday, March 2nd. For adequate restoration and park management, the City is posting the entire San Lorenzo Park as closed to recreation from March 2nd – March 9th. However people will be allowed to walk through the park. We understand that there are concerns about displacement of homeless persons from San Lorenzo Park and into our neighborhoods, parks and business districts. We anticipate that some displacement will occur, as not all of the campers will transition to the River Street Camp. The Police Department has been anticipating this and has plans to deal with problems that may arise. If you see increased illegal activity, we encourage you to call the non-emergency line at Netcom: (831) 471-1130. The dispatchers there will relay the message to our police officers and resources can be deployed. Finally, the River Street Camp is just the first of three phases to fundamentally change how our region is dealing with emergency homeless needs. We are in strong collaboration with the County to open a 1-2 year interim Navigation Center (facility with nightly shelter and day services) in the coming months, as well as work toward a permanent Navigation Center. This articulated approach, which is modeled after San Diego's work, allows us to provide relief now (River Street Camp), while working for a permanent expansion of homeless services to address the present and growing challenge of homelessness. The City will be discussing homelessness frequently in the coming months--and I invite you to engage with us in those conversations and solutions. Thank you for your support, Martin Bernal City Manager
The purpose of the Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce is to promote economic vitality and prosperity. We value a healthy and productive economic community. We engage, we influence and the business community thrives as a result. The challenging issues of addressing our homeless population is not a one word solution. It takes a collaborative effort from all of us. That is why we stand ready to step forward to offer assistance to our city leaders. Today’s article is a partnership message from our City Manager. It is with an open mind that we share his update with all of you. On behalf of the Chamber, let’s work together to solve this crisis. Casey Beyer, CEO, Santa Cruz Area Chamber of Commerce
Dear Community Partners,
I've written in the past to share information about the local impacts of homelessness and actions the City is undertaking to provide some relief to the entire community. As you no doubt read in media across the state, homelessness is a vast and ubiquitous societal challenge and communities are taking actions that were completely unforeseen, even months ago, to address it. Santa Cruz similarly is forging a new path -- and I want to update you on what's occurring.
There is a lot going on this week with regard to the City’s response to homelessness in our community: we are opening our temporary, managed River Street Camp and closing the encampment in San Lorenzo Park. The River Street Camp will officially open on Wednesday February 28, and by Friday, March 2nd the San Lorenzo Park encampment will be fully closed.
The River Street Camp is a temporary (3-4 month) measure to alleviate street homeless. The River Street Camp is not a replacement for the homeless encampment at the Benchlands. The two camps are distinctly different. The program goals for the River Street Camp are:
1. To create a safe and secure place to sleep for those experiencing homelessness in our community.
2. To provide easy access to services that may enable an exit to homelessness.
3. To provide relief to the community impacts of having unsheltered individuals residing on streets and in public spaces.
To accomplish these goals, the River Street Camp will be fully managed, with staff onsite 24/7, a strong offering of social and health services in partnership with the County, strong security, hygiene resources and required shuttle service on/off the campsite. We are creating a place where homeless individuals can be safe and stable and will engage in services to help their exit from homelessness. We are also working hard to minimize impacts to the surrounding community.
The River Street Camp is operating under a soft opening Monday and Tuesday to intake a few Camp Hosts who will live and work at the Camp, and then a graduated move-in of general campers will occur on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We estimate there will be about 50 tents and about 60-80 persons living at the Camp; adding campers in phases the latter half of this week will allow the City to assess and cap the River Street Camp at a manageable capacity. Many campers at San Lorenzo Park will transition to the River Street Camp, with all campers phasing over by Friday morning. Campers who are not transitioning to the River Street Camp on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday will be required to leave San Lorenzo Park on Wednesday, February 28th.
The San Lorenzo Park encampment will be fully closed by Friday, March 2nd. For adequate restoration and park management, the City is posting the entire San Lorenzo Park as closed to recreation from March 2nd – March 9th. However people will be allowed to walk through the park. We understand that there are concerns about displacement of homeless persons from San Lorenzo Park and into our neighborhoods, parks and business districts. We anticipate that some displacement will occur, as not all of the campers will transition to the River Street Camp. The Police Department has been anticipating this and has plans to deal with problems that may arise. If you see increased illegal activity, we encourage you to call the non-emergency line at Netcom: (831) 471-1130. The dispatchers there will relay the message to our police officers and resources can be deployed.
Finally, the River Street Camp is just the first of three phases to fundamentally change how our region is dealing with emergency homeless needs. We are in strong collaboration with the County to open a 1-2 year interim Navigation Center (facility with nightly shelter and day services) in the coming months, as well as work toward a permanent Navigation Center. This articulated approach, which is modeled after San Diego's work, allows us to provide relief now (River Street Camp), while working for a permanent expansion of homeless services to address the present and growing challenge of homelessness.
The City will be discussing homelessness frequently in the coming months--and I invite you to engage with us in those conversations and solutions. Thank you for your support,
Martin Bernal City Manager