von Lossberg - There are a few folks with us today. Emily Armstrong will kick us off.
Emily Armstrong, Reaching Home Manager - Introduced Jessie Jaeger. He will be giving us an update on the emergency winter shelter.
Jessie Jaeger, Directory of Advocacy, Poverello Center (POV) - Information on the winter shelter services and people served was reviewed. There have been successes and challenges. They have been working with individuals to get them into housing. The staff are doing well and they are serving guests. They had funding through the end of March through CDBG and Covid funds. April can still be challenging at night. They were able to secure funding for overnight services through April. This will allow their hot team to work with individuals on future options. They had a vaccine clinic at the shelter. They still have some needs and they are asking for donations of survival gear such as tents and sleeping bags.
Armstrong - Thanks to everyone who has been working hard to make this a success.
von Lossberg - Questions?
Sherrill - Thanks for the update. Between the POV and the Johnson Street Shelter what do our numbers look like?
Jaeger - Around 200 people are housed per night. This is higher than what we saw last year. Fewer people came in last year due to the whether and other nearby communities were standing up emergency shelters. This year many of those were not able to open.
Merritt - I support this effort and I'm glad you were able to secure the additional funding. It has been difficult for some of the neighbors.
Jaeger - We are going to continue our neighborhood meetings. More than half of our board live in the neighborhood.
Anderson - I appreciate the presentation. The numbers at the main POV facility are low due to Covid. Having a couple more weeks is helpful. How are you making the transition in terms of numbers?
Jaeger - We will be tracking CDC recommendations. For next year, we are planning on different scenarios. The homeless outreach team is up to seven people right now due to grant funding.
Jones - I'm supportive of this and happy to hear about the continued funding. How are you going to approach the shelter being shut down during the day with the neighborhood?
Jaeger - The hot team will be in that area working with people on long term planning.
Vasecka - I want to thank you for everything you do. Bryan, I'm curious, we voted for this to be open through the end of March, how come we are not voting for it to run to the end of April?
von Lossberg - I would say it is tied to the funding source.
Vasecka - There has been a lot of feedback from the neighborhood about increased crime. I did promise my constituents that this would close at the end of March and I am concerned about that.
Armstrong - I don't have too much information to add. I recognize all of the challenges that impact the neighborhood. We try to work with neighbors.
Jaeger - We try our best to be good neighbors but mental health issues are common with the population we serve.
Becerra - I am impressed and proud of our community for meeting the needs of our community. The nights in April continue to be cold and I'm thankful we can extend this. How many hot teams do we have?
Jaeger - It is one team with many members. They go between neighborhoods. It is our hoped we can raise enough funds to grow and stay active through the fallout of Covid.
Becerra - I want to make sure that people know where they can donate.
Jaeger - If they go to the mail Poverello Center website they can find information under current needs.
Harp - Jessie please thank all of your staff and board members.
von Lossberg - I want to thank Jessie and Emily and bring up the concerns Sandra brought up. I want to recognize the situation Julie is in speaking with a constituent - sometime we have to deal with imperfect situations.