AHAB minutes 080916 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Ms. Root shared why people become homeless. Normally there is a crisis in that person's life and there is not enough support to prevent them from becoming homeless. The goal is for people who are homeless; rare, brief and non - recurring. The goal is to prevent homelessness orfor it to be less than thirty days. They are looking to house the people who are the most vulnerable which are very often not the easiest to serve people. They are people in jails, emergency rooms and costing a lot of money to keep homeless. In fact, in some cases it cost more to keep someone homeless than to give them a key, a lease and set them up with services they need. if they are in housing and receiving services you will see a drop in mental illness and substance use. Ms. Root stated that to end homelessness there are three things to think about; affordable housing, appropriate services, and income. SOAR is a program that connects homeless people to a fast track process to get benefits. On September 1, 2016, Orange County will have a Community SOAR caseworker. Ms. Root stated that people will stay in the system if there is nowhere for them to go. There is a lot of collaboration happening with elected officials and provider levels working on different plans for affordable housing. Ms. Root mentioned that there is a Landlord partnership incentive specifically for programs that work with homelessness. One incentive is proposing to have a staff person that is a housing person that knows housing and is the landlord's one point of contact. Ms. Root noted that the orientation on homelessness is open to the public and one is scheduled for August 16, 2016 @ 5:30 at the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill. Mr. Cook suggested that Ms. Root come back again and the AHAB members thanked her again for attending and providing a very informative presentation. Affordable Housing Tour Audrey Spencer- Horsley wanted to thank Stephanie Watkins -Cruz, an intern for Orange County Housing, Human Rights and Community Development Department for the work she has done on the Affordable Housing Tour and other projects. The tour will be on September 10, 2016. Ms. Spencer - Horsley went over the tentative plan of the tour. The tour will start at the Whitted Building with a continental breakfast, lunch in Chapel Hill and end back in Hillsborough. Four Orange County Board of Commissioners are scheduled to attend. Departmental /County Reports Audrey Spencer - Horsley let the AHAB Board know that the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan will be on the agenda for the BOCC meeting September 8, 2016. Ms. Spencer - Horsley discussed the timing of the proposed Housing Conference. She shared that it was suggested to have the conference in November after the bond. Diane Beecham agreed that it should be tied to the bond. Committee Reports Diane Beecham reported on the Education Bond. The county is providing a $50,000 budget to educate about the bond. Sheer Associates will develop the campaign. The campaign will begin the end of August until November. The slogan is" Our Schools Our Neighborhood ". Noah Oswald reported on tiny homes. It was suggested to educate the public about tiny homes because they are not legal in some places. Ellie Kinnaird stated that impact fees hurt affordable housing including tiny homes. Mr. Oswald stated that it is expensive without impact fees. The AHAB board wants Audrey Spencer - Horsley to talk to Planning Director about attending a meeting to discuss tiny homes and other affordable housing initiatives they are working on.