May 29, 2020 Dear Mayor Taylor, City Council Members and Staff. As Belle Haven faith leaders we are greatly concerned about the mounting numbers of homeless people and their inability to find affordable places to live. Because they are an important part of the community we serve weekly we have heard their voices and made note of the desires of their hearts as well as their needs. This segment of the Menlo Park community is hurting and we are appealing to our elected officials and your respective staff to rise to the challenge of providing a solution that is long term and sustainable, compassionate rather than punitive and that is developed collaboratively by municipal, corporate, faith-based and secular nonprofit leadership. Three considerations must be at the forefront of our thinking as we approach this glaring problem. First, possible solutions are already in place in other cities and we need to tap in and test them for viability here. The key is to provide respite long term housing that a homeless person can look forward to after his or her emergency housing (shelter or hotel) has expired. Several cities have met this need with manufactured housing and if there wasn’t an existing building that could be transformed the city would provide the land and contract builders to put a manufactured dormitory or such on that land. The city of Hayward has put up tiny houses on church property in partnership with the local faith leaders. San Jose has built a Village. Further afield in Mexico, communities have used 3d printer machines to print housing. In southern Nigeria, women got together and built a dormitory. The possibilities are endless and we need to move expeditiously and strategically. The second consideration is we must recognize that our current response to homelessness often leaves gaps and does not necessarily provide hope for a brighter day. Our recent conversations with our homeless neighbors were laced with lack of trust and a reluctance to buy into a solution that would likely bring them right back to where they started from. What is needed is a well thought out step by step process that encourages and equips them to move forward and upward without the debilitating issue of ‘where will I sleep tonight or tomorrow. Although the Covid 19 emergency response to homelessness is admirable we must put our heads and hearts together and create a sustainable, long-term plan with the necessary wrap around supportive services that moves our neighbors out of homelessness and into productive living with little or no chance for reverting/backsliding. The final consideration is to acknowledge that the homeless population in Menlo Park is transient and an accurate count may not be possible. When the city and or law enforcement steps up its efforts to clear an encampment our homeless neighbors scatter but they don’t usually go very far and they return when they believe it is safe. A long term solution in the midst of skyrocketing housing prices would simply estimate the number and then make dormitory style accommodations available. Our earnest hope is that you will make affordable housing for the homeless a priority and move with deliberate speed to eliminate and prevent the problem in our beloved city of Menlo Park. We await your response and believe that together we can bring hope back to the neighborhood long term. Sincerely, Pastor Teirrah McNair, Fountain of Life Global Christian Ministries, Menlo Park Pastor Arturo Arias, Eternal Life Church, Menlo Park Pastor Zerubbabel Campbell, Community Church of God in Christ, Menlo Park -_____________________________________________________________________- -- Rev. Teirrah McNair, Senior Pastor Fountain of Life Global Christian Ministries (FOLGCM) 1221 Willow Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025 (510) 302-7303; (415) 908-6711 Prayer Line: ?(510) 402-5036? Received on Fri May 29 2020 - 14:51:41 PDT
