The Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services will use $10.4 million in federal funds to address homelessness in Long Beach, but on what exactly?
The department will spend the bulk of the funds on intensive case management services for emergency vouchers ($4.26 million) and mobile Multi-Service Center outreach stations ($2.2 million).
Each outreach station will have two case managers, two outreach staff and a nurse that will be dispatched to “high impact areas,” Director of Health and Human Services Kelly Colopy said, describing it as a “MSC on wheels.” The department plans to have the stations operational by this summer.
The former Best Western purchased for Project Homekey will be converted from interim to permanent supportive housing ($1.37 million) including the addition of kitchenettes in hotel rooms, office space for supportive services and other improvements.
The department will also set up 20 to 25 modular units ($1.2 million)—otherwise known as tiny homes—outside the Multi-Service Center so residents in need have close access to the case management and other services offered at the center.
A social enterprise program ($1 million) is also in the works. A property has already been identified for the program at a former liquor store near the Atlantic Farms Bridge Housing shelter in North Long Beach.
The plan is to create a healthy foods market that will provide workforce development opportunities for transition-age youth experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
“They’re paid for the work as they’re also learning,” Colopy said at Tuesday’s city council study session on homelessness. “It also provides healthy food access in North Long Beach.”
The City still has to clear out the store and send out a request for proposals to find an entity to operate the program.
Additional funding will be used for motel vouchers ($184,000) and operations support for the REACH Team ($177,004) which replaced the now-defunct HEART Team last year.
The REACH Team differs from the HEART Team in that it is more focused on making connections to care services without a full fire department response, according to Homeless Services Bureau Manager Paul Duncan.
The REACH Team does not have any structural funding through the City’s general fund.
In addition to these funded plans, the Health Department hopes to begin a public outreach campaign to educate residents about the services they offer. The department proposed using year-end surpluses from the 2021 budget (about $100,000) to fund the campaign. The recommendation will come to the council in February.
Persons experiencing homelessness may contact the Multi-Service Center via phone at 1-562-570-4500 or in person at 1301 W. 12th St. from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. every weekday except Thursdays, when the center is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The center is closed on weekends.
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