Permanent supportive housing funding has been paid by the state
$27 million dollars was granted to Ventura County on Aug. 24 from the Governor’s office in an effort to help the unhoused gain permanent supportive housing. Helping many unhoused people in the area to have housing.
Thousand Oaks Mayor and member of the City Council, Bob Engler, worked on making this a reality. “This is very low income housing aimed at people who are experiencing homelessness. And it has permanent supportive housing, which means they have support in the facility.” Engler said. “They have people who will be able to come in and who will come in.. to help them reintegrate into having a house.”
This project is years in the making; in 2018, the city council officially prioritized the development of supportive housing for the city. Claudia Bill de la Peña, another city council member and former Thousand Oaks Mayor, helped to organize the process, along with her fellow council members. “[The] city council secured a non-profit partner to create a permanent supportive housing facility. It was a truly historic vote,” Bill de la Peña said. “The City then applied for state and county funding through Project Homekey. We received more than $7 million from the county and nearly $27 million from the state.”
The goal is for the construction to be done in 6-8 months, with the hopes of opening in Spring 2023. Ingrid Hardy, the Assistant City Manager for Thousand Oaks, worked with the city council in order to finalize the project. “Once the project… is completed, it will house 77 homeless persons. These onsite services and programs are designed to support residents in attaining or restoring a greater sense of stability and dignity in their lives, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to our community in ways that otherwise would not be possible,” Hardy said.
In regards to future plans, there are plenty more ideas on how to expand affordable housing. The city is now working on looking for interim supportive housing, an alternative form of housing also known as an “emergency shelter.” It will provide local and temporary housing to address the immediate need of our unhoused population by providing a safe place to sleep, a place for meals, and case management services to help them navigate housing options.
Now a major problem around the country, homelessness, has a potential solution in Thousand Oaks. While it’s not an end all be all, it’s a start to a future. “And now we have that money coming into the city. So we can help address off some of [our] folks who are out there experiencing homelessness,” Engler said.
