East Ventura News

Camarillo, CA – In partnership with the County of Ventura and Jamboree Housing Corporation, the City is pleased to announce an award of $3.5 million in grant funding to convert an existing motel into permanent supportive and bridge housing with wrap-around services for Camarillo’s most vulnerable. County funding will become effective after the California Department of Housing and Community Development approves, awards, and successfully contracts with all parties in the application.

Addressing homelessness is a City Council priority. The City of Camarillo is committed to providing a safe and stable environment by creating permanent and interim housing with supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

On notification of the grant award from the County of Ventura today, Mayor Susan Santangelo said, “Not only is addressing homelessness a requirement of the State, it’s the right thing to do. We have an obligation to help members of our community and securing this vital funding to address homelessness in Camarillo is a critical step toward building the infrastructure for long-term success.”

According to the Ventura County 2022 Homeless Count and Subpopulation Survey, the City of Camarillo had 49 individuals experiencing homelessness, including those in emergency and transitional housing. This equated to a 63.3 percent increase from the previous point in time count. Preliminary numbers from the Homeless Point in Time Count conducted in January 2023 were shared at the Continuum of Care Board meeting last week. Although final numbers are expected to be released in April, the unofficial preliminary figures estimate there are 66 unsheltered homeless individuals in Camarillo, representing a 43% increase from the 2022 count.

The state’s Homekey program offers a rare opportunity to leverage substantial resources to meet this challenge in our community. Recent case law (Johnson v. City of Grants Pass, September 2022) created additional implications on local jurisdictions’ ability to enforce local camping ordinances and requires cities to look for solutions to homelessness within their own jurisdiction.

“It’s going to take mindful collaboration to develop both short-term and long-term solutions to homelessness,” affirmed City Manager Greg Ramirez. “Camarillo is committed to being part of the solution.”

Camarillo made the decision to team up with Jamboree because of their demonstrated success in tapping available resources to tackle the problem of homelessness and their extensive track record of successfully developing and operating facilities that help address the needs of the unhoused community.

Jamboree’s approach of combining permanent housing with supportive services has led to a 90 percent success rate in residents avoiding a return to homelessness.

When the County of Ventura approached the City of Camarillo regarding a potential partnership for Homekey Round 3, it mentioned that the property owner was interested in selling the Days Inn, located at 165 E. Daily Drive in Camarillo, for purposes of rehabilitating the motel into permanent supportive housing. The City then connected with the property owner to discuss a potential acquisition for a Homekey project.

The proposed site is strategically located within an area of mixed residential and commercial uses along with ample access to public transportation and vehicular access to the 101 freeway. The project is expected to benefit the surrounding properties by resulting in an architectural upgrade to the streetscape and a controlled environment with a defined land use. Even though the City has narrowed down the site selection to this property, it remains a potential location until the City, together with Jamboree Housing Corporation, completes the necessary due diligence to verify that the site is suitable for this project.

Outreach meetings with surrounding businesses and property owners have begun and will be followed by general community outreach meetings to discuss this new opportunity for our community.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about a project like this is the concern that this ‘type’ of development will attract or encourage more people to come from surrounding areas to utilize these services, thereby exacerbating a situation and turning it into a problem,” explained Commander Eric Tennessen, Camarillo’s Chief of Police. “The reality is that we are not creating a walk-up facility, but rather a housing facility that is referral based with wrap-around services to support community members who will reside in these homes.”

“The vexing problem of homelessness demands creative thinking,” stated Mayor Susan Santangelo. “This rare opportunity to draw upon public resources from the state to provide much-needed services and housing to our community's most vulnerable residents is something that we should absolutely be doing, and all of us in the city should be proud to be a part of this effort.”

To learn more about the City’s multifaceted efforts to address homelessness and sign up to receive email notification from Jamboree Housing Corporation as this project progresses, please visit www.cityofcamarillo.org/homelessness.

Original source can be found here