Hello Council and Staff,
Is there a planned agenda for the Study Session on Homelessness? If not, I like to suggest the following:
1) What MP has done/is currently doing. That would include the homelessness services that we've recently contracted with Samaritan
House for (housing relocation and stabilization services, financial assistance and housing stability case management) and services
with Project WeHope for mobile showers, laundry, restrooms and case management. I see recent Community Funding Agreements for
these services that are both dated February 12, 2019. I also see one with Rebuilding Together for the purpose of making repairs
for low-income households. Yesterday, I also found a MP 2015-2023 Housing Element Report
[http://www.hcd.ca.gov/community-development/housing-element/docs/menlo-park-5th-adopted041414.pdf]that includes details related
to homelessness. An update on the status of report's recommendations/action items would useful.
2) Best practice from other cities and San Mateo and Santa Clara County approaches. I see the San Mateo County Ending Homelessness
report [https://hsa.smcgov.org/sites/hsa.smcgov.org/files/HomelessReport_Final.pdf]and the City of Palo Alto's
[https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/52172]Community Plan to End Homelessness that includes the Santa Clara
County Report on the same topic. In a prior email, I send a link to the Institute of Local Government/League of California Cities
2018Homelessness Task Force Report [https://www.ca-ilg.org/sites/main/files/htf_homeless_3.8.18.pdf]that also contains useful
information. There may be other such reports.
3) MP's plans to join regional efforts, if they exist.
4) Perhaps non-profits with expertise in the area could also speak.
5) As a resident, I would also like tips as to what I can personally do to help. We might also ask what residents know about
additional services related to ending homelessness in our city. For example, I attend a local church that annually hosts a
rotating homeless shelter (for two weeks) as part of the broader Home & Hope program. Our local faith community might be doing
other things that contribute to solving this problem. Being aware of these activites might encourage more community volunteers.
6) Actionable next steps from the meeting. One hour is not enough time for this topic, so I realize that the agenda will be
limited. I don't think it will be helpful to have the meeting focused around hearing complaints about the homeless. I also suggest
additional meetings that focus on different aspects of the solution.
Lynne Bramlett
