At our May 21st, 2019 meeting of our general membership, the Canyon Dems voted overwhelming to pass the following resolution.
We are enormously proud of the work our Community Outreach committee, led by Andrea Alexander and Ann Owens, have accomplished since the committee’s inception this year. Their passion and dedication to educate our membership about important issues effecting our community, like homelessness, has made us all aware of the complexity and effort it will take on all our parts to solve them.
If you’d like to learn more about the homeless population in South Orange County and what you can do to help, attend our upcoming Homelessness 101 presentation on June 25th at the Norman P. Murray Center in Mission Viejo.
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RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF SHELTER AND PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING FACILITIES IN SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY
WHEREAS, the Canyon Democrats serving the cities of Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Rancho Santa Margarita, Trabuco Canyon, Coto de Caza, San Clemente, Irvine, Laguna Woods, Aliso Viejo, and Laguna Hills, have concerns about the growing number of homeless individuals in our cities;
WHEREAS, between December 2, 2017 and November 30, 2018, 244 people died without fixed abode (homeless) in Orange County;
WHEREAS, the completed results of the 2019 Point in Time count indicates there are at least 6,860 homeless individuals in Orange County and 763 of them reside in South Orange County;
WHEREAS, the number of emergency shelter beds in Orange County, have increased since 2017 (primarily in North and Central Orange County), the transitional housing inventory has decreased by 2.65%;
WHEREAS, of the 763 homeless individuals in South Orange County 225 receive some form of shelter but 538 continue to remain unsheltered;
WHEREAS, the Alternative Sleep Location in Laguna Beach is the only low‐barrier shelter in South Orange County and has a limited capacity of 45 beds; and co-ed shelters are unsafe for women and children; and
WHEREAS, a 2017 UCI study found that (1) the majority of the homeless population in Orange County are long‐term residents of the county, (2) difficulty securing jobs with sustainable wages and difficulty finding affordable housing were the predominant factors precipitating homelessness, (3) the per capita cost of permanent supportive housing is 50% lower than for providing services to the chronically street homeless, $51,587 versus $100,759, and (4) if all of Orange County’s chronically homeless were housed in permanent supportive housing there would be an estimated cost savings of $42 million;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Canyon Democratic Club supports the cities of South Orange County in their efforts to provide affordable housing, emergency shelters, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals residing within South Orange County;
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Canyon Democratic Club supports our elected officials to advance the planning and construction of such facilities and with all reasonable speed; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Executive Board shall deliver a copy of this Resolution to State and local elected officials and media outlets as the Canyon Democratic Club Executive Board deems appropriate.
May 19, 2019
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(Pictured from L-R Moderator Linda Nearing, Canyon Dems Chair Gary Kephart, Candidate Brian Forde, Candidate Kia Hamadanchy, Candidate Katie Porter, Candidate David Min, and Event Timer Martie Lubetkin)
