Sonoma County supervisors appear ready to embark on an ambitious campaign to wipe out homelessness, envisioning a regional effort supported by local cities and public-private partnerships to create new affordable housing for an estimated 2,000 people.
It could take up to $110 million in local investment, but supervisors Tuesday said some of the costs would be recouped elsewhere through reduced spending on emergency room visits, drug and alcohol treatment, incarceration and other, more expensive interventions commonly needed by those who are homeless.
Despite the financial implications, there is a moral obligation to address the problem, several members of the Board of Supervisors suggested.
“Our county, having 2,000 people homeless right now — even though we’re doing better — is not a reflection of our values,” Supervisor Shirlee Zane said. “We can do better. We must do better.”
Tuesday was the first time supervisors have tried to determine just what it would take to provide permanent housing for the county’s disproportionately large homeless population.
An estimated 5,574 individuals are homeless at some point during the year, more than 1 percent of the county population, according to Kathleen Kane, executive director of the county Community Development Commission.
To read the rest of this story by Mary Callahan, go to: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/n...county-lays-out-plan
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