Agenda 12-06-21; 8-a - Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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27 1 Rachel Waltz said the Housing Access Coordinator position was funded, which focuses 2 80% of time on system level issues like landlord recruitment and retention, building 3 collaboration to increase affordable housing stock in the community that is willing to partner with 4 rental subsidies, etc. She said this position spends the remaining 20% of its time is dedicated 5 to individualized housing searches for people with multiple barriers. She said a Housing 6 Locator position would strictly provide the individualized housing search. 7 Commissioner Greene said this position originated at Community Empowerment Fund 8 (CEF) and got transferred to the county. 9 Rachel Waltz said that part is currently happening, and Christopher Jackson came on 10 board the end of June and he engages in the landlord recruitment and reaches out to landlords 11 and builds relationships. She said he came from the Durham Housing Authority, and is focused 12 on providing high quality rentals. 13 Commissioner Greene asked if the difference between the Housing Access and Housing 14 Locator positions could be explained. 15 Rachel Waltz said the locator would have an individualized role with people searching 16 for housing. She said the Current Housing Access Coordinator is only able to do a portion of 17 that. 18 Commissioner Greene recalled a past presentation from Corey Root where then 19 Commissioner Dorosin asked how much money would be required to fund the gaps and 20 therefore end homelessness in Orange County, but then COVID happened and it got lost. She 21 asked if staff can reestablish what amount of money it would take to end homelessness in 22 Orange County and begin that conversation again with colleagues in municipalities. 23 Rachel Waltz said the OCPEH Leadership Team will vote on whether or not to adopt the 24 updated gaps analysis at its November meeting and will present that information to the BOCC 25 thereafter. 26 Corey Root said staff is also working on updated gaps numbers for American Rescue 27 Plan Act (ARPA) funding. 28 Commissioner Richards said there are a couple of gaps that community partners may be 29 able to help fill, and asked if that is factored into the gaps analysis. She said the reentry project 30 involved churches that came forward willing to provide goods and services to help people. 31 Corey Root said there are lots of different entities and people needed to fill these gaps. 32 Commissioner Richards asked if there is an outreach person who does that in terms of 33 community organization. 34 Corey Root said she and Rachel Waltz do that, plus service providers. She said these 35 gaps are a galvanizing tool for the community. She said there has been success in partnering 36 with community organizations to address the gaps, and highlighted some examples. 37 Commissioner Hamilton asked if the percentage of newly homeless is increasing 38 because of job losses as result of COVID is known. She asked where the newly homeless are 39 coming from within the County, and how mental health and domestic violence play a factor. 40 She said this type of information helps Board understand what is needed and how much. She 41 asked if there is a reason why there is not 24-hour bathroom access, and where, when, how, 42 they could exist. She asked if other communities have addressed this need successfully. 43 Corey Root said there was a task force pre-COVID with the Town of Chapel Hill to 44 discuss public bathrooms for all residents. She said these bathrooms need to be in downtown 45 Chapel Hill or Carrboro, preferably with a shower option. She said there was a pilot project that 46 was set to move forward in March 2020, which needs to be picked back up. 47 Commissioner Hamilton asked if funding was identified for the pilot project. 48 Corey Root said it was going to be an ask from Town of Chapel Hill, for a fancy port-a- 49 potty with some tracking technology to understand how often it is used, etc.