Edith was recounting the first moment she saw her room at the San Mateo County Navigation Center. “OMG! What a blessing! This can’t be real!” She also gushed about the staff at the center, calling one person “my sunflower” and another “my sunshine.” She had real hope for her future now that she had stable, safe, private, comfortable housing. After her husband died she’d been on the streets, then in a congregant shelter, and now here. “I wish I knew the person that built this place!” She exclaimed. I pointed to the man standing next to me, Adam Ely, deputy county executive. Near tears she asked him “Can I hug you?” and she did.
A Daily Journal reader asked me to look into what he calls the “homelessness industrial complex” to find out why we spend so much money and the homeless population keeps rising. Is that money wasted by people who don’t really want to solve the problem? He wonders. Sarah Fields, director of Community Engagement and Public Affairs for LifeMoves, the agency running the center, who gave me a tour and answered dozens of my questions, scoffed at that, with good reason. Yes, disjointed services trying to patch gigantic social problems piecemeal aren’t ideal. That’s why the concept of the Navigation Center, with the county’s coordinated entry system, focused on “housing first” with comprehensive holistic services is so important. And, according to everyone I’ve interviewed and the research I’ve done, the homelessness problem won’t be truly reduced until we make major national investments in affordable housing and other social programs, federal funds for which were dramatically reduced starting with the Reagan era. Since then, it has mostly been left to nonprofits, cities, counties and states to deal with the housing crisis. San Mateo County, I believe, is setting an example that other municipalities will be able to follow, best practices that have in a very short time shown very positive results.
The center has 240 private housing units, comprehensive on-site social services, medical/dental care, 24/7 resident service coordinators, three meals a day, laundry room, dog run, community rooms and beautiful outdoor spaces. This is a place where residents can find comfort, community and a way out. Many barriers to entry have been eliminated. People who might otherwise have refused help and stayed on the streets now gratefully accept it. Residents stay from three to six months, depending on their ability to overcome whatever obstacles they face. One story that both broke my heart and made it abundantly clear that any dollar spent this way is worth it was about the man with stage 4 cancer who Kaiser placed at the center because he could no longer stay in the hospital, was not ready for hospice, and would have been out on the street if not for the Navigation Center.
Each of the people I saw on my visit strengthened my belief in what the county and organizations like LifeMoves are doing. I’m a Matthew 25 Jewbyterian, Jewish with a Presbyterian husband, moved by the saying “that which you did for the least of these you did for me.” Folks are homeless for many reasons and different agencies are best able to provide services based on their core expertise with the types of clients they serve. These core agencies are working directly with the Navigation Center to place people who would clearly benefit from being there, who have the best chance to get their lives in order and eventually move on to permanent situations where, for many, they will be self-sufficient. Take Angie, who moved into the center a few months ago.
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With the center’s help, she landed a fantastic job at the airport. She impressed management at her job so much that they’re hiring two of her neighbors. That employer may establish a long-term relationship with the center as a pipeline for more employees. The joy in the employment coordinator’s face sharing that news fed my soul. Every staffer expressed joy in their work, confidence in the mission and a love for the residents. They should be proud.
Naysayers commenting on columns about poverty and homelessness frequently give what they think is sage advice. “If people want to live here they should work harder and get better jobs and they should learn how to manage their money.” In a previous column, I shared JobTrain’s success, last year training 3,000 people for better jobs. As I was leaving the Navigation Center, a staffer said residents had earned $31,000 in deposited savings in just 45 days. People do, in fact, work hard, try to move up and save money. My sage advice: Let’s keep working together as a community so that everyone can thrive.
Resident’s names were changed for their privacy.
Craig Wiesner is the co-owner of Reach And Teach, a book, toy and cultural gift shop on San Carlos Avenue in San Carlos.
These programs sound wonderful and I am truly glad our county has decided to invest in the navigation center for the types of individuals Craig describes. However, one thing not mentioned in the article is a sobriety requirement or drug treatment. The "homeless" problem will never be solved until we understand this is not primarily a "housing" problem, but a drug issue (often combined with mental illness.) While San Mateo Co is not San Francisco, yet, one walk down Market street shows that these are not people "just down on their luck" who missed a paycheck and then decided to pitch a tent on the street.
Excellent question. Yes! Substance abuse prevention and mental health care are among the many holistic social services connected through the Navigation Center to help people move from homelessness to self-sustaining independence. The 24/7 staff at the center help people overcome whatever their particular obstacles are. Take someone who has gone through a residential substance abuse program, come out the other side sober, only to have nowhere to live. The Navigation Center can be that place that bridges the gap from the tent you mention, to treatment, to housing plus job training and saving some money so that after some number of months he or she can find a good job and stable housing.
Thank you for sharing some local success stories. It is important we stay optimistic about solving homelessness even though 30% of the country's homeless live in California. I wrote to you privately after your 9/19 column on homelessness... "In my view, while everyone likes such feel good stories... there is a bigger picture beyond such stories. It's this... our approach to homelessness is failing. More money is allocated for solutions yet the number of homeless keeps increasing. On the state and local level it's not working."
We've spent $20 billion dollars on homelessness over the past four or so years, yet the number of homeless folks keeps increasing. Why? It does not appear the state is actually working toward solutions. A couple of months ago, a CNN reporter sat down with Willie Brown to talk about homelessness. Hizzoner said, "It is not designed to be solved. It is designed to be perpetuated. It is to treat the problem, not solve it." How can that be? Is Willie wrong?
You spoke with a director at LifeMoves who scoffed at the idea of a "homelessness industrial complex." OK. The most recent data reported by LifeMoves re: their financials shows they collected $63 million in revenues. 45% of those monies came from government sources... that's a shade over $28 million. LifeMoves' tax-exempt IRS filing for that period showed the organization paid a shade over $28 million to employees. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like a lot of LifeMoves' revenue goes to sustain its paid staff.
If Willie is right... how has this human tragedy happened? Let's not blame the homeless... we should look in the mirror. Theft related crimes and drug offenses have been decriminalized. The courts protect the "rights" of homeless to occupy open spaces in a way that foments lawlessness and permits the spread of communicable diseases virtually in perpetuity. The "solution" by our government officials is to pour more money on the homelessness problem... that's not working. A lot of that money is being funneled to developers and NGOs... that's working for them. We need to demand real solutions from our elected officials, and that translates to stopping "hand outs" to those who profit from homelessness.
Craig... we're not talking about the person or family who missed a paycheck and found themselves temporarily homeless. Those folks deserve and "hand up" to get back on their feet. Matthew 25 all day long... and maybe some Luke 10 for good measure.
Ray - that director at LifeMoves will never admit that he has a sweet deal. Bleeding hearts like Craig make his job a lot easier as he will never be held accountable for the excessive spending. Just like school finances, it never seems to benefit the students. Today's Chronicle has a story about an RV lot that was made available to RV dwellers. The City is paying $180,000 per year for each one of these RV spaces, yet there is no sanitation, no bathrooms, no electricity for those wretched individuals. Clearly the lot owner is laughing all the way to the bank cashing in millions per year and was just informed that his contract was renewed. There is simply no oversight and the NGOs are masters or mistresses to play on our sentiments. Ultimately, our political leaders should be held accountable along with the county managers. But, even our own manager's contract was just renewed with a raise while he let millions of dollars of medical supply sit in the rain. Is he even looking at these NGO expenditures? We need an impartial auditing agency to clean this up and then we can really take care of the problem.
I like Craig. He may be the sincerest person to grace these pages. He really wants to see the homelessness problem fixed... we all do. The fixes or solutions cannot be something that just sound good; they have to be solutions that actually work.
Your comments hit the nail on the head... twice. Oversight and audit. Cities and counties get money from the state... Oops! Hit the "pause" button. Let's remember one basic immutable fact; the state actually has no money of its own. It only has money confiscated from taxpayers. Press "play." Cities and counties get money from the state then extract large fees from developers to erect supportive housing. That's a profitable arrangement for developers. NGOs will then get rich contracts to manage that housing. Where is the oversight?
Project Homekey has cost taxpayers $3.7 billion to convert hotels into a shade under 13,000 temporary housing units across California. I wrote to our county and asked about how one of these facilities is evaluated. No one really knew. However, I was assured the county was planning to hire an analyst and engage a consultant to make such an assessment. Why would anyone think it is a good idea to wait three years or so before performing an audit?
Hi Ray - Thanks for taking the time to comment and the kindness with which you do so. I'm compiling all the questions/comments on my columns on homelessness and poverty and will do an entire column or two with comment/response at the end of that series. On Luke 10 let me say that LifeMoves has "outreach teams" who are on the street every day reaching out to the most visibly unhoused people, offering a hand up to anyone who is ready to take that hand, and coming back again and again and again until they are ready.
I believe the feel-good stories are important, but even if the DJ could print them every day, that doesn’t translate into the government's solution to homelessness is working.
You write well… many folks enjoy your op-ed commentary. I do.
With respect to whether the homelessness industrial complex is not solving the homeless problem… the response should not come from an NGO like LifeMoves. You are correct. LifeMoves has outreach teams on the streets. According to LifeMoves, it has nearly 8,000 total volunteers, however, those thousands of volunteers are not on LifeMoves’ $28 million payroll. LifeMoves is just one NGO.
Are there some legit programs out there? Sure. However, the practical fixes or solutions cannot be something that just sound good; they have to be solutions that actually work. Hopefully, your follow up columns will address who is profiting from the billions and billions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on homelessness. Where is the oversight? How are elected officials and NGOs evaluated and how should they be held accountable?
I’ll send you some information about some Bay Area homeless programs you might find interesting. So, in those future columns, can lay out a case for either confirming or denying the existence of a homelessness industrial complex?
Thanks for your column today, Mr. Wiesner. It’s nice to hear a few success stories but what about stories and statistics on the number of failures? How much is it costing taxpayers for each success? Not just locally, but statewide? We know plenty of taxpayer money has been tossed into the homeless industrial complex (over $20 billion by the state and what, another $150 million budgeted for the county) yet homelessness is getting worse. Statistically, there will be some successes, but at what cost and what level of inefficiency? Why not ask those who support throwing in more taxpayer money into the pot if they’re willing to personally house a homeless person? Perhaps their actions will inspire others and we can reduce the amount of wasteful government spending.
The last paragraph was so good in that it described The City Council of San Mateo to a tee and I quote what you said, "You were assured the county was planning to hire an analyst and engage a consultant to make such an assessment. Why would anyone think it is a good idea to wait three years before performing an audit you ask".
My response because they are unqualified to be in any job with the taxpayers money!!!!! Th standards are so low here that is why nothing gets done, They should never be in any position. No credentials, uneducated etc. What the heck were they supposed to be doing, they cannot do any job, so they were going to hire someone else to do what they could not do in the first place.
Thank you for writing in response to the original discussion but it so aptly applies to the City yokels here too. Very much appreciated.
My only experience with San Mateo's city staff revolved around the red tag rental issue about four months ago. I was not impressed. However, you now have Redwood City's former assistant city manager leading City Hall in San Mateo and I expect that things will improve.
Back to the county... why does the county have to hire an extra analyst AND engage a consultant to make assessments about its Project Homekey sites? Why can't the county's Department of Housing perform the necessary oversight and audits?
Goring - i know that this story gets long in the teeth but with respect to hiring outside help or consultants. I worked for a few years in a quasi-government organization. In order to defer any responsibility for decisions made, most executives would contract with consultants, instruct them of the desired outcome and then, if it hit the fan, they could blame the consultants. These were, of course, covered through their professional or malpractice insurance. No harm done to the ultimately responsible managers. That is what is in play all over in most governmental institutions. Hence the proliferation of NGOs with their lavishly compensated executive directors. It is a costly scam that continues to count on bleeding heart support.
Beautiful article, Craig. It's sad to live in a society that can't even provide a comfortable safe place in which a sick person can die. I'm glad this one individual found a place. And to the naysayers who say that we spend more and there are only more and more homeless people (as if that were a reason not to spend money on something so important!)--lets graph homelessness against income inequality. This will be quite revealing.
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(14) comments
These programs sound wonderful and I am truly glad our county has decided to invest in the navigation center for the types of individuals Craig describes. However, one thing not mentioned in the article is a sobriety requirement or drug treatment. The "homeless" problem will never be solved until we understand this is not primarily a "housing" problem, but a drug issue (often combined with mental illness.) While San Mateo Co is not San Francisco, yet, one walk down Market street shows that these are not people "just down on their luck" who missed a paycheck and then decided to pitch a tent on the street.
Excellent question. Yes! Substance abuse prevention and mental health care are among the many holistic social services connected through the Navigation Center to help people move from homelessness to self-sustaining independence. The 24/7 staff at the center help people overcome whatever their particular obstacles are. Take someone who has gone through a residential substance abuse program, come out the other side sober, only to have nowhere to live. The Navigation Center can be that place that bridges the gap from the tent you mention, to treatment, to housing plus job training and saving some money so that after some number of months he or she can find a good job and stable housing.
Hello, Craig
Thank you for sharing some local success stories. It is important we stay optimistic about solving homelessness even though 30% of the country's homeless live in California. I wrote to you privately after your 9/19 column on homelessness... "In my view, while everyone likes such feel good stories... there is a bigger picture beyond such stories. It's this... our approach to homelessness is failing. More money is allocated for solutions yet the number of homeless keeps increasing. On the state and local level it's not working."
We've spent $20 billion dollars on homelessness over the past four or so years, yet the number of homeless folks keeps increasing. Why? It does not appear the state is actually working toward solutions. A couple of months ago, a CNN reporter sat down with Willie Brown to talk about homelessness. Hizzoner said, "It is not designed to be solved. It is designed to be perpetuated. It is to treat the problem, not solve it." How can that be? Is Willie wrong?
You spoke with a director at LifeMoves who scoffed at the idea of a "homelessness industrial complex." OK. The most recent data reported by LifeMoves re: their financials shows they collected $63 million in revenues. 45% of those monies came from government sources... that's a shade over $28 million. LifeMoves' tax-exempt IRS filing for that period showed the organization paid a shade over $28 million to employees. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like a lot of LifeMoves' revenue goes to sustain its paid staff.
If Willie is right... how has this human tragedy happened? Let's not blame the homeless... we should look in the mirror. Theft related crimes and drug offenses have been decriminalized. The courts protect the "rights" of homeless to occupy open spaces in a way that foments lawlessness and permits the spread of communicable diseases virtually in perpetuity. The "solution" by our government officials is to pour more money on the homelessness problem... that's not working. A lot of that money is being funneled to developers and NGOs... that's working for them. We need to demand real solutions from our elected officials, and that translates to stopping "hand outs" to those who profit from homelessness.
Craig... we're not talking about the person or family who missed a paycheck and found themselves temporarily homeless. Those folks deserve and "hand up" to get back on their feet. Matthew 25 all day long... and maybe some Luke 10 for good measure.
Ray - that director at LifeMoves will never admit that he has a sweet deal. Bleeding hearts like Craig make his job a lot easier as he will never be held accountable for the excessive spending. Just like school finances, it never seems to benefit the students. Today's Chronicle has a story about an RV lot that was made available to RV dwellers. The City is paying $180,000 per year for each one of these RV spaces, yet there is no sanitation, no bathrooms, no electricity for those wretched individuals. Clearly the lot owner is laughing all the way to the bank cashing in millions per year and was just informed that his contract was renewed. There is simply no oversight and the NGOs are masters or mistresses to play on our sentiments. Ultimately, our political leaders should be held accountable along with the county managers. But, even our own manager's contract was just renewed with a raise while he let millions of dollars of medical supply sit in the rain. Is he even looking at these NGO expenditures? We need an impartial auditing agency to clean this up and then we can really take care of the problem.
Hey, Dirk
I like Craig. He may be the sincerest person to grace these pages. He really wants to see the homelessness problem fixed... we all do. The fixes or solutions cannot be something that just sound good; they have to be solutions that actually work.
Your comments hit the nail on the head... twice. Oversight and audit. Cities and counties get money from the state... Oops! Hit the "pause" button. Let's remember one basic immutable fact; the state actually has no money of its own. It only has money confiscated from taxpayers. Press "play." Cities and counties get money from the state then extract large fees from developers to erect supportive housing. That's a profitable arrangement for developers. NGOs will then get rich contracts to manage that housing. Where is the oversight?
Project Homekey has cost taxpayers $3.7 billion to convert hotels into a shade under 13,000 temporary housing units across California. I wrote to our county and asked about how one of these facilities is evaluated. No one really knew. However, I was assured the county was planning to hire an analyst and engage a consultant to make such an assessment. Why would anyone think it is a good idea to wait three years or so before performing an audit?
Hi Ray - Thanks for taking the time to comment and the kindness with which you do so. I'm compiling all the questions/comments on my columns on homelessness and poverty and will do an entire column or two with comment/response at the end of that series. On Luke 10 let me say that LifeMoves has "outreach teams" who are on the street every day reaching out to the most visibly unhoused people, offering a hand up to anyone who is ready to take that hand, and coming back again and again and again until they are ready.
Hello, Craig
I believe the feel-good stories are important, but even if the DJ could print them every day, that doesn’t translate into the government's solution to homelessness is working.
You write well… many folks enjoy your op-ed commentary. I do.
With respect to whether the homelessness industrial complex is not solving the homeless problem… the response should not come from an NGO like LifeMoves. You are correct. LifeMoves has outreach teams on the streets. According to LifeMoves, it has nearly 8,000 total volunteers, however, those thousands of volunteers are not on LifeMoves’ $28 million payroll. LifeMoves is just one NGO.
Are there some legit programs out there? Sure. However, the practical fixes or solutions cannot be something that just sound good; they have to be solutions that actually work. Hopefully, your follow up columns will address who is profiting from the billions and billions of taxpayers’ dollars spent on homelessness. Where is the oversight? How are elected officials and NGOs evaluated and how should they be held accountable?
I’ll send you some information about some Bay Area homeless programs you might find interesting. So, in those future columns, can lay out a case for either confirming or denying the existence of a homelessness industrial complex?
Thanks for your column today, Mr. Wiesner. It’s nice to hear a few success stories but what about stories and statistics on the number of failures? How much is it costing taxpayers for each success? Not just locally, but statewide? We know plenty of taxpayer money has been tossed into the homeless industrial complex (over $20 billion by the state and what, another $150 million budgeted for the county) yet homelessness is getting worse. Statistically, there will be some successes, but at what cost and what level of inefficiency? Why not ask those who support throwing in more taxpayer money into the pot if they’re willing to personally house a homeless person? Perhaps their actions will inspire others and we can reduce the amount of wasteful government spending.
Thank you for such a great column.
Mr. Fowler responding to Mr. Dirk...
The last paragraph was so good in that it described The City Council of San Mateo to a tee and I quote what you said, "You were assured the county was planning to hire an analyst and engage a consultant to make such an assessment. Why would anyone think it is a good idea to wait three years before performing an audit you ask".
My response because they are unqualified to be in any job with the taxpayers money!!!!! Th standards are so low here that is why nothing gets done, They should never be in any position. No credentials, uneducated etc. What the heck were they supposed to be doing, they cannot do any job, so they were going to hire someone else to do what they could not do in the first place.
Thank you for writing in response to the original discussion but it so aptly applies to the City yokels here too. Very much appreciated.
Hello, and thanks for the compliment.
My only experience with San Mateo's city staff revolved around the red tag rental issue about four months ago. I was not impressed. However, you now have Redwood City's former assistant city manager leading City Hall in San Mateo and I expect that things will improve.
Back to the county... why does the county have to hire an extra analyst AND engage a consultant to make assessments about its Project Homekey sites? Why can't the county's Department of Housing perform the necessary oversight and audits?
Goring - i know that this story gets long in the teeth but with respect to hiring outside help or consultants. I worked for a few years in a quasi-government organization. In order to defer any responsibility for decisions made, most executives would contract with consultants, instruct them of the desired outcome and then, if it hit the fan, they could blame the consultants. These were, of course, covered through their professional or malpractice insurance. No harm done to the ultimately responsible managers. That is what is in play all over in most governmental institutions. Hence the proliferation of NGOs with their lavishly compensated executive directors. It is a costly scam that continues to count on bleeding heart support.
Absolutely True.
Beautiful article, Craig. It's sad to live in a society that can't even provide a comfortable safe place in which a sick person can die. I'm glad this one individual found a place. And to the naysayers who say that we spend more and there are only more and more homeless people (as if that were a reason not to spend money on something so important!)--lets graph homelessness against income inequality. This will be quite revealing.
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