Gateway

(currently meeting on an as-needed basis) contact Clyde Reynolds for info

The Gateway combines Shelter, Sobering Station, Transitional Housing, Drop-In and Supportive Services in one location. Individuals will find comfort, showers, food, clean clothing and real assistance in one facility. It will be possible to enter the Gateway, homeless and destitute, stay for an extended period of time (6 months to two years), and leave the Gateway able to support oneself in mainstream society. For those who struggle with mental illness, it will be possible to enter the Gateway, homeless and destitute, stay for an extended period of time and leave the Gateway with on-going support in the form of permanent supportive housing and continued social care.

Through continued dialogue, discussion and creative thinking, it became apparent that many of the services identified within "The Gateway" will benefit a large number of individuals in our community, in addition to those experiencing homelessness and economic challenges. The Gateway will serve a cross-section of Ventura's population, combining individual and community resources to meet fundamental basic human services most cost-efficiently while maximizing community awareness of their presence and availability to all.

The Gateway is a unique response to a continuing problem of homelessness in our community. The Gateway Committee, comprised of a diverse group of Ventura citizens, including community activists and various service provider representatives, serves under the umbrella of the Ventura Social Services Task Force (VSSTF). The Task Force is a community-based organization tasked by the Ventura City Council to end (intercede in the cycle of) homelessness in our city. This is part of a broader effort called the Ten-Year Strategy to End Homelessness, a movement that is spreading across the nation. There are approximately 300 cities, counties, and states that have completed or are completing a ten-year strategy to end homelessness, according to the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH).

In order to understand the intent behind The Gateway, and why it represents such a significant part of the solution to our City’s Homeless problem, it is important to first become familiar with the some of the core issues and causes of Homelessness in our community.

An Old Problem

Homelessness is a continuing national problem that persists within local cities and communities including the City of Ventura and Ventura County. During the past two decades, an increasing number of single persons have remained homeless year after year and have become the most visible of all homeless persons in our community. Other persons (particularly families) may experience shorter periods of homelessness. However, they are soon replaced by other families and individuals in a seemingly endless cycle of homelessness. There are many reasons why people become homeless, and there are just as many misunderstandings about the problem and those caught up in the cycle.

In a report to the Ventura City Council in 2008, City Staff cited that “Reactive homeless programming and treatment, on average, costs a community $35,000-$150,000 per chronic homeless person annually. Proactive homeless programming and treatment (a housing first model), on average costs a community $13,000-$25,000 per chronic homeless person annually. The issue of homelessness is a matter of cost – the cost of human life, and the cost of that human life on a community.” At that time the Homeless Count in the City of Ventura numbered around 588 persons. That figure has since increased 

New Solutions

The challenge for any community is to adopt courses of action that end, rather than manage or maintain, homelessness. A typical example of managing and maintaining homelessness involves moving homeless people from food and meal programs to emergency shelters and back to food and meal programs day after day, week after week, month after month, and—for an increasing number of homeless persons—year after year. Managing and maintaining homelessness also involves moving homeless people in and out of motels, winter shelters, and correctional institutions, which also contributes to a seemingly endless cycle of homelessness.

Planning to end homelessness involves a different approach to homelessness. This approach involves focusing new and existing tools and resources on three (3) sub-populations of homeless persons that encompasses all homeless and at-risk of becoming homeless persons within the community.

The three (3) sub-populations include:

• Chronic Homeless Persons: individuals who are homeless for one (1) year or more, or four (4) times in three (3) years, and have a disability, which is often mental illness and/or substance abuse. They are often the most visible and the hardest to reach of all homeless persons.

• Episodic Homeless Persons: individuals or families who are homeless for a short period of time—days, weeks, or months—not a year or more.

• Persons At Risk of Becoming Homeless: persons with limited income and often have to choose between paying their rent  or mortgage and other daily living costs which often put them at risk of becoming homeless.

In Ventura County there are at least a few thousand people who become episodically homeless and replace the episodically homeless persons noted above who obtain housing. This creates a continuous cycle of homelessness throughout the County year after year. The persons replacing the episodically homeless persons noted above are persons who were at risk of becoming homeless and became homeless.

The Ten-Year Strategy

The initial goal is to reduce homelessness within the county by 50% during the first five (5) years (2008-2012) of implementation.

First it is important to recognize that Homelessness is a community problem, and that communities spend a great deal of money and other resources every year dealing with the negative impacts – crime, victimization, abuse, medical trauma, police and medical man-hours, diminished value of properties in areas impacted by the presence of homeless persons, and so on. But there are numerous studies and case-studies that demonstrate how communities that work to intervene in the cycle of homelessness, through provision of support services, transitional and supportive housing, can significantly reduce the costs and negative impacts associated with both chronic and episodic homelessness, while also significantly improving the quality of life of those so affected.

The Ten-Year Strategy to End Homelessness provides 22 recommendations that describe how homelessness can be reduced annually by providing a balanced approach of new and existing resources for chronic homeless, episodic homeless, and at risk of becoming homeless persons. These recommendations were made by a Working Group comprised of representatives from numerous public and private agencies in Ventura County, that met at least once a month over an 18-month span of time and helped compile the County of Ventura’s Ten Year Strategy. The full report, Ventura County 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness, 2007, can be read and downloaded here

Meeting Minutes