Permanent Supportive Housing

Attend April 22 City Council meeting to support Permanent Supportive Housing, a widely-accepted national best-practice in homeless services. It greatly reduces the harm homeless people experience through their lives on the street, and significantly reduces the cost of homelessness for the community. Friendship Shelter believes that Permanent Supportive Housing is a logical extension of its current work and a way to expand services to more people in need.  Come to the April 11 Community Forum at NCC to learn more.

By its very nature Permanent Supportive Housing ends homelessness for its residents. The approach provides safe and reliable housing with on-site supportive services for homeless people who are unable to support themselves through work due to a disability. This model saves community resources by limiting the need for emergency medical care and law enforcement response. Similar programs have been shown to reduce such public costs by as much as 2/3. In addition to that expected savings, our project saves the City of Laguna Beach $150,000 in direct costs currently spent on operating the Alternative Sleeping Location (ASL). We envision an apartment building on the site of the current ASL that incorporates a permanent emergency shelter in addition to 40 efficiency apartments. Onsite services will be provided by Friendship Shelter staff as well as community partners to meet the unique needs of each tenant. Tenants will pay a fixed percentage (typically one-third) of his or her income. We expect to fund the program from a combination of government and private sources.

To show your support for permanent supportive housing in Laguna Beach go to: http://friendsofsupportivehousing.com and attend the April 22 Laguna Beach City Council meeting!