Homelessness is a slow walk, but progress is being made
City by City—San Joaquin County is making steady advancements in helping to reduce homelessness, increase low income housing options and secure social, behavioral, and healthcare services to those who are living in the most inhumane and unsheltered circumstances. It’s a slow walk, but one that is steady and is yielding forward motion.
The intent of ALL IN SJC is to highlight that slow walk, to be a place in the landscape of social media that shares the stories, successes, and challenges
that each city in SJC faces in ensuring that homelessness is rare, brief, and
non-recurring.
Across the county, survey after survey indicates that homelessness is the #1 challenge. And yet, while blight, public camping, or obvious increases in lives experiencing homelessness appear to be never ending, progress is being made. We must recognize that the current state of homelessness took decades to evolve, the progress might be slow—but thinking as the tortoise and hare analogy, we will get there if we are ALL IN together across SJC. Yes, it is a slow walk but together we are making it happen.
Agencies and cities across the county are firmly wedded to making our communities safer and stronger places—from expansion of low income homes,
like Lodi’s TINY Homes, to start-up of Access or Navigation Centers in planning stages, or to expansion of Low Barrier Shelter Beds in every city in the county—major changes are happening.
We have a dedicated community homeless reduction plan adopted by every City Council and Board of Supervisors which is our roadmap. It provides a clear picture of what we must do! And the SJ Continuum of Care (CoC) along with its assorted committees are addressing data, outreach, sheltering, and permanent housing solutions, as well as sourcing support and funding across our county.
From County support from the Board of Supervisors to active city engagement from the City Councils, Offices of the Mayor’s Teams or Neighborhood agencies in each city, to Housing Authority or Visionary Home Builders, and other key developers advancements on standing up low income homes are in active progress.
