City of Santa Rosa, CA
05/07/2024 | Press release | Archived content
How Community Input is Guiding the City’s Response to Homelessness and Affordable Housing Needs
Earlier this year, the City reached out for community input on the pressing concerns of homelessness and affordable housing in Santa Rosa, and, not surprisingly, the community's response was robust. 466 community members participated in an online survey and in-person and virtual community meetings. This feedback has provided valuable insight into the importance of these issues and how the City should best prioritize resources in its on-going response to homelessness and our community's affordable housing needs.
What You Told Us
Homelessness is a community priority: Residents who participated in the online survey overwhelmingly identified addressing homelessness as a community priority, with 90% of respondents ranking it as such. Despite a 30% decrease in the number of residents experiencing homelessness in Santa Rosa, as reflected in the most recent point-in-time count, 50% of survey respondents said they believed that the level of homelessness had increased. This tells us the visibility and concern about homelessness remains high in Santa Rosa. 70% of respondents expressed an interest in learning more about what the City is doing to address homelessness.
Affordable housing and rental assistance are top priorities: On the issue of affordable housing in Santa Rosa, survey respondents and meeting participants identified rehabilitation and reconstruction of existing affordable housing as the top priority, followed by the need for rental assistance programs and the development of new affordable housing.
How Your Input Makes a Difference
Helping to prioritize resources: Community input received through the survey and meetings was used by the City's Housing and Community Services Department (HCS) in drafting the fiscal year 2024-2027 Consolidated Plan. The plan, which was approved by the City Council on April 16, identifies Santa Rosa's needs for housing and services, and prioritizes how an estimated $7.5 million in federal funding will be used to meet those needs over the next three years. Several top priorities are outlined in the plan which coincide with the input the City received from the community. These include the production and preservation (including rehabilitation) of affordable housing, providing housing and other services to special needs populations, and rental assistance programs.
Additionally, because of the community's input, HCS staff will recommend to the Santa Rosa Housing Authority board that projects to rehabilitate existing affordable housing units be given extra points when applying for funding through the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). Published by HCS staff each year, the NOFA outlines federal, state, and local funding that is available and the criteria that will be used to select grantees.
Informing the Homelessness Solutions Strategic Plan: Input received through the survey is also being used to inform the development of a stakeholder engagement plan as part of the City's Homelessness Solutions Strategic Plan (2023-2027), which provides key strategies and actions to improve the City's response to homelessness in alignment with the regional system of care-the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition.
More communication: Additionally, survey respondents noted a desire for more consistent communication from the City on the issues of homelessness and affordable housing, and in response we are committed to providing regular community updates via the City's weekly e-newsletter, City Connections, as well as directly to subscribers of the Homelessness Solutions email list. The topics of these articles will align with those most requested by the community, such as increasing awareness of City programs and initiatives, resources available to persons experiencing homelessness, and efforts to reduce the community-wide impacts of homelessness. Residents are encouraged to email us at [email protected] with questions or to suggest additional topics.