By DICK SPOTSWOOD | [email protected]
October 31, 2023 at 10:30 a.m.
In a departure from the ‘Housing First’ model, steps are underway to provide emergency housing for farmworkers in Bolinas. An imaginative approach and speedy action on the part of the nonprofit Bolinas Community Land Trust resulted in a first-rate temporary solution that is already up and running.
Housing First is a concept designed to move those who are unhoused or poorly housed to permanent supportive housing. It’s primarily designed for the homeless population suffering from the double diagnosis of psychiatric illness and substance abuse. That’s where the “supportive” component comes in.
Supportive housing is the ultimate and proper goal for homeless people dealing with mental health issues and/or addiction. It’s expensive, costing close to $1 million per unit. Building supportive housing is slow, as is any housing in California. That reality leaves most of Housing First’s targeted beneficiaries living in squalor on the streets or on fire-prone hillside camps.
Not all unhoused and poorly housed people require the full wraparound services associated with permanent supportive housing. Some simply have very low or no income. For multiple reasons, including bad life decisions or illnesses, they lack sufficient cash to rent a home in one of America’s most expensive regions.
For the most part, the people living in old trailers and recreational vehicles along Novato’s Binford Road fit into this category.
In Bolinas, the intended residents are hardworking Latino farmworkers and their families. For decades, they’ve lived in rudimentary cabins on the Tacherra Ranch on the Bolinas Mesa without proper water, sewage or electrical connections.
The Bolinas Community Land Trust saw the need. Wasting no time, it devised and implemented a solution. It’s a model for how to expedite the process and provide temporary housing for those in need. Their idea is to lease and place 27 recreational vehicle trailers on a 20-acre parcel located at 130 Mesa Road.
The concept honors the sign at Bolinas’ outskirts: “Entering a socially accomplished nature-loving town.” Coincidentally, it’s adjacent to another sign declaring, “Hometowns need homes.”
Last weekend, I drove out to the Bolinas Mesa. To my amazement, the RVs are all in place. Each has a water and electricity connection. A mound septic system is planned. Frequent trash pickups leave the site pristine with none of the debris that makes Binford Road an eyesore.
Given the interminable delays that government projects often experience, it is startling to see a nonprofit essentially complete a project of this magnitude in a matter of months.
The estimated $2.59 million needed to fund the temporary housing comes from the Marin Community Foundation, $622,000 from the County of Marin and the balance from private donations. More contributions are sought. This temporary solution is a quarter the cost of permanent housing.