"Housing is Key” has served 1,133 Humboldt County residents with $9,568,618 in rent and utility payments

 

Housing is a struggle in Humboldt whether you are on the street, low income and even harder if you are working but still face the challenge of affordable housing. There are options out there and the County does what it can with the programs, funds and specifications about who they can serve. 

I mentioned in my email to Supervisors, current candidates and DHHS today and have in numerous conversations with other elected officials, business owners and community members that the County, Betty Chinn, Rescue Mission are not a solution that works for all people.

Unless you have faced the challenges yourself of housing, you don't have a clue how hard it is; many fall through the system. For others, it is typical Humboldt and who you know and if you are an "accepted local." 

Housing more people will take businesses, landlords and property owners to step up to the plate instead of just suing the government or complaining while not providing alternative solutions. There also needs to be accountability of government funds and what is being used for bureaucracy and salaries.

I would like to thank DHHS Director Connie Beck and her staff from their extremely prompt response to my questions.

DHHS Legislative and Policy Manager Nancy Starck provided answers to questions I asked and the information below was sent to me via Christine Messinger from DHHS communications.

From DHHS:

Two local Project Roomkey sites launched at the beginning of the pandemic are being converted into permanent housing via the Homekey program. In addition, according to the state’s dashboard, the “Housing is Key” program has served 1,133 Humboldt County residents so far, with $9,568,618 in rent and utility payments.

State and county funding for homelessness implement a Housing First policy, in alignment with federal Fair Housing law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability, including mental illness, alcoholism and drug addiction, in all types of housing transactions.

Focusing on single adult men, local shelter options include:

Men’s Rescue Mission

Blue Angel Village (also serves women)

Arcata House Partnership Adult Shelter (also serves women)

Providence St. Joseph Mother Bernard House (also serves women)

Nation’s Finest Veterans Emergency Housing (if the man is a veteran, also serves women)

Nation’s Finest Veterans Transitional Housing (if the man is a veteran, also serves women)

Redwood Rural Health Center motel voucher program

DHHS motel voucher programs for people with serious mental illness