We’re making progress here in Santa Cruz, and we’re going to keep making progress.
Hey all, I’d like to share this with you. I don’t post every media piece that I’m included in anymore, but I do want to share the stuff that I think will make a difference – and this might be one of them.
I gave a speech this year at the March to End Homelessness this year in Santa Cruz, hosted by the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers. It’s pretty quick, I’d love for you all to take a look.
Here are my quick thoughts on California’s Prop 1, since a lot of you are asking. I just read over the description on the primary ballot. I am not a professional legislative analyst, by any means. But I get why you all are here reading this.
-It may end up being a very good thing for residents who suffer from severe mental health challenges. If the state’s estimates are correct, and this bill will provide 6,500 of 10,000 needed mental health beds in the state, then that is a big win.
-The effect that this bill will have on homelessness will be negligible. If the stars align, it will lead to a 2% reduction in homelessness over the next 10 years – with a 20% reduction of veteran homelessness in that time as well. This rosy projection is reliant on buildings getting built and/or acquired somewhere in the state to house people. We all know how challenging that can be.
-It takes some mental health money from the counties and gives it to the state, for some reason. This is perplexing, and pushes me from “it’s flawed but probably still good” to “it may not be worth voting for such a flawed piece of legislation” – knowing that there is not a heck of a lot stopping the state from putting something better on the ballot next election if this one fails. The reality is that money to be spent on mental health services will get taken from each county right away, and then some years later a mental health facility may or may not show up in that county from the money that comes from this bill.
-It’s really malpractice that this bill would be marketed as addressing the homeless issue. The percentage of our homeless population that faces severe mental health challenges is very low (not that we have good numbers), certainly no more than 5%, maybe as low as 1 or 2%. The idea that most of our homeless population is suffering from severe mental health challenges and/or life altering addiction is a long-dead myth at this point. The actual portion of the bill that addresses homelessness is a drop in the bucket. I’m not sure how I’ll vote, since I’m not opposed to voting for flawed legislation that will still do some good, but the stench of the political machinations behind this bill are a turn off for me.
I’m coming into 2024 with a lot on my mind. We recently had to say goodbye to our good friend Joshua Coffy. My father in law passed away this year. Burning Man was a mess…
Professionally, someone recently told me that what my org is doing is “meteoric.” Since being nothing but an idea at this time in 2020, as of Tuesday we have nine full time staff, and handful of part-time staff, a budget over $1 million, and are about to move into our first real office space. Our initial program housed 45% of it’s participants in it’s first 14 months. And, there is so much more coming in 2024. The possibilities and opportunities on the horizon in 2024 are truly mind-boggling to me. I find myself looking into the future, seeing a bunch of question marks, and taking actions today to get answers to those questions. It is a challenge that I find myself relishing – even though it is often stressful.
The next thing for me is really cementing the way that we provide services throughout the organization. One thing, of many, that is going to distinguish us over time is delivering very effective services. To do that, we are going to have to codify what that means internally. I’m excited for that. A cool thing about our organization being about growth, healing and ending homelessness is that the growth and healing happens on our team as well. Yet, if we are about that internally as well as externally, how do we manage the logistics of that? This is a question I’m eager to answer.
Local politics will also determine the trajectory of what my org is doing. There are sales tax measures on both the city and county ballots that may directly fund our programs, if passed. There are also three elections at the county supervisor level that will change what decisions get made in our entire region.
My daughter (facebook link) continues to amaze me in her short time working in acting and modeling.
And yet, all bets are off if Trump wins in November. The relative stability that has marked our country since the Great Depression will be in danger, if not outright gone immediately. Professionally, I sometimes worry that I’m re-arranging deck chairs on a sinking Titanic. No one’s life will improve in the long term if Donald Trump serves another term, and that reality is going to present all of us with challenging decisions to make.
If you read me regularly, you know that Democracy is a prime value to me. I understand and sympathize with folks who feel like our system is broken. I agree that it is broken. But we cannot throw it out to replace it with a dictator. Those of us who criticized him in 2015 turned out to be right – please listen to us now as we continue to criticize him. He will dismantle the very thing that does actually make America great. I’m sure this list is just a start.
We’re getting ready to have a great event coming up on October 12th. Check out the Eventbrite.
Had a brief segment on KSBW
Got a good write up in the Santa Cruz Sentinel
If you noticed that the article in the Sentinel said that our wait list was 37, while the KSBW segment said that our wait list is nearly 50 – it’s because our list grew quite a bit in just two days.
Also gave my perspective on the shutdown of the Footbridge Services Center
Had an incredible conversation with Nativo on his Paid the Cost podcast at the end of August, about homelessness and my life in general. Here is the link to the episode itself.
Also, Alejandro (here’s his Instagram) made this incredible image of me, hearkening back to when I did outreach with people who are homeless and handed out cookies as part of that outreach…
I made an appearance on community radio
In case you want to hear me on the panel with a couple of homeless activists, (including Reggie from Santa Cruz Cares) hosted by Ami Chen Mills, talking about the current homeless situation in Santa Cruz – here is the youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiJOP0MbSPA
I’m really excited that my organization, The Free Guide, is in the final stages of preparation before launching an RV Safe Parking program with the city of Santa Cruz.
Here’s a local article about the program. If you or someone you know would benefit from this program, feel free to reach out.
let’s create a plan
I’ve been relatively quiet on this blog recently. But since I’m being quoted in local press, I figure now is the time to share a little bit. In Santa Cruz County, it’s time to start shifting the conversation around homeless from complaining about it and reporting on the facts of it to talking about what it’ll take to actually end homelessness here.
In this article, that’s part of what I’m laying out in my quotes.
Yet, what it’s going to take to end homelessness here (or anywhere in this country) remains elusive. Even though I could be considered an expert on the topic, all I have to offer are educated guesses myself. What we need, at least in Santa Cruz County, is more refined data. With refined data, we can evaluate what sorts of programs are successful and make sure that we have programs to meet the needs of each person experiencing homelessness. To their credit, the county is coming up with a way to get more refined data on our homeless residents. With decent data, I think we can start to develop a plan to end homelessness here. If we have a plan, then we can evaluate each action that the community takes through the lens of that plan. Without a plan, we end up with what we already have: What seems to be (to someone who is outside of the decision making process) an unrelated series of decisions and events that may or may not lead to anything. Without a plan, we end up going from urgent issue to urgent issue, without necessarily thinking in the sort of long term way that’s needed to actually make a notable dent in this years long issue.
But data is also more than just data points. In order to have good policy, we need our people who are crafting policy to understand the problem outside of the raw data points itself. That’s why one of my organization’s goals is to provide education; about what it’s like to be homeless, what it’s like to be a service provider, and what challenges we all are facing as we grapple with this issue. We aim to provide this education to everyone, because every single one of us are in a position to influence policy.
You’re going to see some of that here on this blog, but if you want to be sure to see it more regularly you should connect with my org, The Free Guide, on social media. We are only at the stage where we have launched our socials, we have not mastered the art of social media at all. But as we get better at them, you’ll get a bunch more good content from us on this stuff:
Instagram: @thefreeguide
Twitter: @the_freeguide
Facebook: Santa Cruz Free Guide
Email: santacruzfreeguide@gmail.com or contact@thefreeguide.org
If you are a member of the media and reading this, I’m interested in any project that can help the general public understand the realities of homelessness. I think it is truly going to take community wide action to address this issue. So, fire away with any questions or assistance you may need.
When I spoke at the Community Advisory Committee on Homelessness about the unseen expenses the city of Santa Cruz has dealing with the homeless issue, here (facebook link).
Here’s part 3 of the Conversation to End Homelessness
Evan Morrison's Blog 