Welcome to the next edition of the Homeless Services Newsletter! This is a monthly publication for the Homeless Services Bureau of the Long Beach Health Department to share information, resources, highlights, and news related to our community-wide efforts in addressing homelessness in Long Beach! | |
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The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Awards the City $1,335,000
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The City of Long Beach Homeless Services Bureau was awarded $1,335,000 to be distributed over the next three years by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The Foundation's grant will augment the Health Department's Encampment Resolution Funding, featured in last month's newsletter.
Since 1990, the Foundation has worked with community advocates, nonprofits, the City of Long Beach, Los Angeles County, the State of California, other foundations, and the private sector to identify solutions to chronic homelessness in Los Angeles County. The goal is to collaboratively work towards the long-term goals of making homelessness in Los Angeles County rare, brief, and non-reoccurring.
The Foundation's focus is to prioritize populations at the greatest risk of long-term
homelessness, emphasize permanent housing and services, support the creation of systems and services that are people-centered and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned with other cities.
The Health and Human Services Department will utilize the grant funds to provide therapy and counseling to people on the streets to improve mental health, provide substance use resources, and facilitate service connections. The funding will also provide moving assistance for people experiencing homelessness to support access to safe and stable housing.
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Call for Volunteers:
2023 Homeless Point-In-Time Count
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The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is close to meeting the goal of 250 community volunteers signing up to help conduct the 2023 Point in Time (PIT) Count.
Register today if you or anyone you know would be interested in participating in the annual street count of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The Count will occur on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, and volunteers are expected to report at 4:30 a.m. and be dispatched to the field by 5 a.m.
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Long Beach Health Department
Monthly Column on Homelessness
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Every month, the Health Department writes an Op-Ed for the Press-Telegram about the work being done by the City to reduce homelessness in Long Beach.
This month's piece is titled, "With winter near, temporary housing solutions are critical."
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87 people entered an emergency shelter
251 people were contacted by Street Outreach
32 people on the street were contacted through the Tidelands and Weekend Outreach
194 requests for Outreach
466 people accessed the Multi-Service Center for the first time
4081 total visits to the Multi-Service Center this month
194 average daily visits to the Multi-Service Center this month
737 incoming calls to the Multi-Service Center this month
113 people stayed in Project Homekey (on average)
126 households stabilized in a motel
10 Safe Parking Program Participants (on average)
*Data reported in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) for the month of October 2022
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Emilio Santa Cruz
Community Program Specialist II
Emilio started his career with the City of Long Beach in April 2022, working on the outreach side of the Homeless Services Bureau. He brings four years of public service experience, including working with the County of Riverside, Coalition for Responsible Community Development, UCLA Bruin Shelter, Century Villages, and Mental Health America. He will help support the Measure H projects and the Year-Round Shelter in his new role.
Emilio grew up in the City of La Mirada and has been a Long Beach resident for the last eight years. He earned his B.A. in Sociology from CSULB and his Master’s in Social Welfare from UCLA. Emilio’s hobbies include jiu-jitsu, running, video games, and spending time with loved ones. Emilio’s favorite teams are the Rams & Dodgers.
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Charisse Mercado
LBRA Coordinator
Charisse Mercado started with the City of Long Beach in early November but has over 15 years of homeless services experience, including the direct practice of services and the overseeing the creation of new programming. She recently came from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), where she initially oversaw the creation of countywide programs, including rapid re-housing, prevention, and problem solving (diversion). Formerly the Manager of Special Projects in the Permanent Housing Department at LAHSA, she worked on several projects geared towards navigating funded providers through system and program shifts that focused on throughput data in the homeless services system.
Before this role, she was an active volunteer with the City and is excited to take on this new role here in Long Beach.
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Jasmine Guillen
Grants and Finance Analyst
Jasmine Guillen joins the Homeless Services Bureau as a new Community Program Specialist.
She has several years of homeless services experience, including working for non-profit and public sector agencies such as PATH and the Department of Community Services in Clark County, Washington. She is a recent graduate of Cal State Long Beach’s Master of Public Administration program and looks forward to making a positive impact within the community.
During her free time, she likes spending time outdoors, hiking, and spending time with family.
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Multi-Service Center
The Multi-Service Center (MSC) provides the following services to people and families experiencing homelessness:
- Outreach services
- Intake and assessment services
- Case management
- Referrals to shelters and other social service programs
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City of Long Beach Online Resource Directory
The online resource and referral platform, powered by Unite Us, helps residents connect to City and community programs.
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CSH Supportive Housing Training Center
Through the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), the Supportive Housing Training Center offers practical, interactive training solutions that empower people to learn about, build and provide high-quality supportive housing in their community. There are several free, on-demand courses focused on a variety of supportive-housing-related topics.
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Rapid Rehousing Roundtable Discussion Series
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is hosting a series of roundtable discussions on best practices in Rapid Re-Housing. These facilitated dialogues will allow providers to learn from experts and peers and submit questions on each discussion topic.
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New Tool to Find Federal Non-Emergency Health and Social Service Programs
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness launched a new tool to help state and local leaders identify and access federal non-emergency health and social programs so they can use multiple streams of funding for holistic supportive services that meet the short- and long-term needs of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
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CoC and ESG Financial Management Virtual Binder
The new Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) Financial Management Virtual Binder is now available on the HUD Exchange. This binder provides a comprehensive overview of HUD's financial management guidance for the CoC and ESG program. Recipient and subrecipient staff are encouraged to review this binder to ensure that appropriate internal structures and policies are in place to manage federal funds.
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Volunteer and Donation Opportunities
Community members play an important role in the solution to ending homelessness in Long Beach. Volunteers help others while learning more about what is being done to address homelessness in Long Beach. Learn how you can contribute your talents, energy and expertise to support local efforts in ending homelessness.
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Long Beach CoC Board Meeting
The Long Beach CoC Board is comprised of elected members with the oversight to steward local planning, coordination, and implementation activities related to ending and preventing homelessness in the region. The CoC Board meets twice quarterly on the second Tuesday in January, March, April, June, July, September, October and December. All meetings are open to the public.
Long Beach CoC General Membership Meeting
The Long Beach CoC General Membership is a broad-based group of local stakeholders who share a common interest in ending and preventing homelessness in the City. The CoC General Membership meets quarterly on the second Tuesday in March, June, September, and December. Meetings are open to the public.
Long Beach CoC Standing Subcommittees
In addition to the meetings above, the Long Beach CoC has three standing subcommittees:
- Policies and Standards
- Coordinated Entry System
- Quality, Data, and Performance.
Subcommittee membership is open to all general members of the CoC. Members are defined as anyone who has attended at least one CoC General Meeting.
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Homeless Services Advisory Committee
The Homeless Services Advisory Committee serves at the discretion of the City Council and the Mayor to make recommendations on policies, programs, and activities related to homeless assistance resources. The HSAC meets on the first Wednesday of each month unless otherwise noted. All meetings are open to the public.
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Mayor's Fund to End Homelessness
The Mayor’s Fund to End Homelessness (Mayor’s Fund) provides small grants to organizations in Long Beach that address significant service delivery needs that are not covered by existing funding and are not considered emergency needs. Donations to this fund could support a variety of critical needs, including:
- Relocation Assistance
- Shelter Services
- Transportation Assistance
- Critical infrastructure improvements and repairs
- Replacement of mission critical equipment
- Move-in Assistance
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Immediate shelter needs
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