homeless
The County of Sonoma has contracted with the Holiday Inn in Windsor to provide temporary shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness who are most vulnerable to COVID-19, including those over the age of 65 who have underlying medical conditions. The contract is set to begin Saturday, May 15, 2021 and extend through Dec. 31, 2021.
The Holiday Inn Windsor site will be replacing the Alliance Redwoods Conference Grounds located in Occidental. The non-congregate shelter at Alliance Redwoods will be closing because Alliance is able to open as a campground now that the County is in the less-restrictive orange tier within the Blueprint for a Safer Economy of California. The agreement between the County and Alliance Redwoods ends June 30, 2021. Sixty individuals will be transferring over from the Alliance NCS site while the remaining rooms will be filled via referrals from groups that work directly with the at-risk of being homeless population.
The contract with Holiday Inn stipulates the County would pay $139 a day per room occupied, but the grand total will not exceed $3.23 million for the contract period. Day-to-day shelter services at the Holiday Inn site will be provided by DEMA Consulting & Management. DEMA is experienced in providing shelter, meals, medical and other services to the County’s vulnerable homeless populations. Currently, DEMA is under contract with the County and has been providing services to similar shelter sites located at Mickey Zane Place in Santa Rosa, and the Elderberry Commons in Sebastopol. Mickey Zane Place and Elderberry Commons were both purchased earlier this year as permanent supportive housing options through California’s Project Homekey program.
The Holiday Inn site will be able to accommodate up to 90 individuals. Individuals housed at this location will participate in the county’s ACCESS (Accessing Coordinated Care to Empower Self Sufficiency) Initiative. The ACCESS Initiative provides individualized, integrated services to people experiencing homelessness based on their needs and supports. These services span county and community programs to provide wraparound and holistic care and interventions, which are critical to improving individuals’ well-being and self-sufficiency. Services include primary health care, behavioral health services and supports, economic assistance, food assistance, employment training, and other services. These resources and services are key determinants of successful housing placement and the permanency of these placements. Occupancy of the rooms will fluctuate as needed.
The Holiday Inn is a temporary site and no talks have taken place about funding or extending the project beyond the end of the year.
