Officials in San Francisco and San Jose have aggressively cleared out homeless encampments similar to the one in the county’s Civic Center. But successes in other places show there are better solutions.
Category: Housing & Homelessness
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide, Housing & Homelessness
Cal Housing Consortium: Affordable Housing is a Matter of Life & Death
California needs to address the dire lack of affordable housing, which doesn’t just kill poor people for lack of shelter but also threatens the state’s economy because workers need a stable place to live — or they move elsewhere.
Posted inCountywide, Housing & Homelessness, Norberto Santana, Jr., Santa Ana, Transportation
Santana: Focus for Santa Ana Civic Center Should be People not Buildings
Orange County Supervisors are right to talk openly about the future of the Civic Center. But they should focus on things like transforming the abandoned bus terminal into a homeless service center before embarking on a building spree.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Housing & Homelessness, Top Stories, Transportation
Supervisors Discuss Massive Overhaul of OC Civic Center
The Civic Center Master Plan would reorganize the current amalgamation of government buildings in downtown Santa Ana into four “neighborhoods” and remodel facilities in four phases over the next 20 years.
Posted inCountywide, Government, Housing & Homelessness, Top Stories
OC’s Main Provider of Homeless Services Draws Fire From Advocates
While Mercy House has been the go-to homeless services provider for local governments, the organization and its executive director, Larry Haynes, face harsh criticism at the street level. Haynes says he’s working on strengthening his relationships with people in the trenches.
Posted inGovernment, Housing & Homelessness, Top Stories
Big Spike in OC Homeless Deaths Alarms Advocates
The annual number of homeless deaths in the county, largely driven by overdoses, have skyrocketed since 2005, even as estimates of the overall homeless population have gone down.
Posted inCountywide, Housing & Homelessness, Norberto Santana, Jr., Transportation
Santana: County Officials Moving Slowly to Help Civic Center Homeless
Voice of OC Publisher Norberto Santana Jr. urges county officials to move quickly to secure federal approvals to get Santa Ana Civic Center homeless population under a covered roof before the El Niño storms return.
Posted inCountywide, Housing & Homelessness, Norberto Santana, Jr.
Santana: 2016 Promises to be a Year of Fresh Starts for County Government
It will be up to supervisors and other county officials to hammer out the details on last year’s policy progress, which includes such things as worker relations, homelessness, animal shelters and ethics reform.
Posted inHousing & Homelessness, Top Stories, Westminster
Westminster Pushes Boundaries in Fight Against Homelessness
The cash-strapped city is taking innovative approaches in its attempt to alleviate the persistent problem. However, a lack of leadership at the county level inhibits progress, say advocates.
Posted inCommunity Opinion, Countywide, Health & Wellness, Housing & Homelessness
Collins: Meet Dennis and Patsy, Faces of Homelessness
Homeless activist R. Joshua Collins introduces Deniss and Patsy in this occasional series about the people that he meets while working with homeless residents throughout Orange County.
