Local Experts Brainstorming At “Homeless-Call-To-Action Roundtable”

homeless roundtable

Long term solutions to homelessness — the focus of the “homeless-call-to-action roundtable discussion” of local experts hosted by Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea with the Fresno Housing Authority at Parc Grove Commons.

The group first met five years ago to address the issues, but County Supervisor Henry Perea says homelessness is a multi-faceted issue, and while it seems like there are more homeless – the numbers have actually decreased by half.

homeless roundtable 2

“Surprisingly, the homeless issue has been reduced in Fresno and Fresno County, but I think that the perception is that it hasn’t and I think some of that is because as homeless encampments are being taken down, folks are dispersing around the community, so what people are seeing – they’re not seeing the 53% or so that have been helped and receiving housing and are doing better in their lives.” -County Supervisor Henry Perea.

Present at the forum were representatives from the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care Executive Board; the Fresno County Departments of Public Health, Behavioral Health and Environmental Health; Fresno County legal counsel; the City of Fresno; the Fresno Police Department; the Poverello House; the Fresno Rescue Mission; the VA Central California Health Care System; and the Fresno Housing Authority.

“Our job is to continue to peel away at the onion to get to the root of some of those problems” – Preston Price, Fresno Housing Authority.

The representatives gave updates and their recommendations to forward a coordinated effort to fight homelessness in the Fresno area.

“We have a lot of difficulties and some people don’t take services on the first offer, but if we look at this with any other chronic condition, such as mental health, substance abuse, TB, diabetes, heart issues, there’s a lot of underlying issues here that prevent people from getting care regardless of what the care is.” – Preston Price, Fresno Housing Authorities.

The County of Fresno which started pilot programs for the homeless will add even more funding in the budget.