Homelessness Prevention and Reduction Plan

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Adopted by the Board of County Commissioners February 3, 2009 20 There are funding opportunities available to support this consolidation work. We will encourage partnerships between private, government and faith based organizations to maximize these opportunities to streamline service delivery. What Needs to Happen: 2009 By 2012 By 2015 Support the expansion of Crisis Line services to include after hours and weekend access to services for emergency housing. X Support for emergency housing in the form of dedicated funds for vouchers or for support of additional emergency shelters. Provide up to $15,000 per year for hotel vouchers for transient and other emergency shelter from the 2163 funds. X Attend the Ministerial Alliance meetings of local faith-based organizations and churches to document the amount of resources being provided to the homeless population including vouchers, housing, food, clothing, counseling, etc. X Use 2163/2160 funds to provide shelter (motel) vouchers via reimbursement to the Faith Community, and encourage the Faith Community to use their funds for the FISH Food Bank. We estimate that there may be as many as 22 motel vouchers per month distributed. If each room costs $60, that’s $1320 a month, or $15,840 a year. This is money that the faith community is expending now, and could be transferred over to the food bank, thus relieving pressure on the food bank and the near-homeless population. X 2. Preservation of existing affordable rental housing. Preservation of existing affordable housing stock is a high priority in our county. Kittitas County has experienced significant increases in rental and home ownership costs, particularly in the past few years, when housing costs have increased dramatically. Median income rose during that same time period, but has not kept pace with escalating costs, like housing. In the workforce, this county has witnessed a fluctuating unemployment rate from 6.9% in 2002 to 4.0% in 2007 to 5.3% in 2008 (Washington State Employment Security Office). However, increasingly, there is a sharp division occurring between those with higher incomes and those who are paid minimum wage. It appears that landlords have become more selective in their criteria for determining to whom to rent, many landlords choosing not to rent to those without any credit, with a negative housing history, or criminal issues as reported by homeless individuals trying to get into housing. Most homeless individuals and families have issues in at least one of these areas. Even with reassurance by social service workers that they will provide supportive services to those individuals and families, many landlords select renters with clean records. Some landlords raise the rent to a level that is unaffordable to the low-income or households enrolled in subsidized housing programs.