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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-07-2016 HRC Correspondence - Item 2 (Transitions Mental Health)Transitions -Mental Health Association Inspiring hope, growth, recovery and wellness in our communities. September 6, 2016 Human Relations Commission c/o 919 Palm Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Dear Friends, Meeting: Ly�� Item: Z RECEIVED CITY OF SAN LUIS OF31SPO SEP 0 6 2016 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Thank you for this opportunity to share our thoughts about the health and human service needs for residents of the City of San Luis Obispo. Transitions -Mental Health Association (TMHA) is a community based, private non-profit human services agency. Since 1979, TMHA has developed and operated housing, employment, and rehabilitation programs in San Luis Obispo and North Santa Barbara Counties for adults, seniors and youth with mental illness as well as homeless disabled adults. The vast majority of TMHA clients are on the lowest rung of the economic ladder. According to the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), 71% of mental health clients report an annual income of $20,000 or less and "an estimated one-third to one-half of people who live with serious mental illness lives at, or near, the federal poverty level." The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors has observed that for this population unemployment rates can be "as high as 90 percent." The lack of affordable housing for men and women with mental illness is one of the most powerful barriers to recovery. When this basic need cannot be met, people with mental illness cycle in and out of homelessness, jails, shelters and hospitals. Three fundamental principles guide supportive housing. First, it's a safe place—a home where one can stabilize, and grow, and follow a recovery plan. Second, individuals in supportive housing have access to the services and supports they need: from crisis mental health services to peer support groups to workshops on money management. Services are provided as needed to support each individual's unique journey towards recovery. Third, supportive housing facilitates full integration into the community. Individuals are encouraged to pursue employment, education, volunteer work and social activities. Adults with mental illness are frequently at risk of housing instability due to lack of income to pay rent or psychiatric symptoms such as poor impulse control or tolerance of poor living conditions that may lead to eviction. Above and beyond facing social stigma and financial disadvantage, mental health consumers often do not have the resources or knowledge to compete for the few rental units available in a market fake San Luis Obispo County. Post Office Box 15408 - San Luis Obispo, CA 93406 - P 805.540.6500 - F 805.540.6501 - www.t-mha.org High housing costs play a big role in the Central Coast's unaffordability, as underscored by National Low Income Housing Coalition data released this year. The study ranks California as having the third most expensive housing in the country. San Luis Obispo County residents need a job paying about $25.19 per hour, or $52,400 per year, to rent a $1,310 -per month two-bedroom apartment, which makes the County the 17th most expensive (out of 58) in California. Furthermore, the countywide vacancy rate is 1.7 percent, well below the standard "healthy" vacancy rate of 5 percent. The lack of affordable, low income permanent housing was central to the State's Department of Housing and Community Development 2006 Report, "California's Deepening Housing Crisis," which made special mention of the worsening shortage in California's coastal cities. That report is ten years old, but the problem remains unchanged along our Central Coast. Over the last ten years Transitions -Mental Health Association has bought houses in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties during downturns in the real estate market. Our agency has successfully converted those buildings to supportive housing. This is a core strategy that makes TMHA a sustainable nonprofit organization—as well as one that can house over 300 adults with mental illness each year. A remarkable opportunity to develop more housing has come our way. The old Sunny Acres building above Johnson Avenue has been abandoned for 40 years. It was used as both an orphanage and a juvenile detention center. For decades it has been sitting in its own asbestos, posing a riddle to the City and County: what should be done with this place? We believe the answer is to preserve the unique character of this building and preserve the essence of its original intent: to be a valuable community resource. TMHA and the Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo (HASLO) are building Bishop Street Studios. We will renovate the historical building and add three more modern buildings designed to complement the original. In total, we will create 34 single occupancy apartments. That will increase the amount of affordable supportive housing .for adults with mental illness in the city of San Luis Obispo by nearly 30%—a huge impact for a single project. Bishop Street Studios will: • Provide supportive permanent housing, an elemental part of our mission. • Build independent housing close to existing services and transit. • Preserve the existing building and its unique architecture. ■ Enhance the surrounding neighborhood through eradication of crime and blight associated with this abandoned site. Bishop Street Studios will be an extremely convenient location for our clients, within easy walking distance of San Luis Obispo County Behavioral Health facilities, as well as public transportation on Johnson Avenue. The apartments will also be in close proximity to both the Growing Grounds Farm and Growing Grounds Downtown, two social enterprise businesses run by TMHA. Our Growing Grounds programs offer the best ground floor opportunity for adults with mental illness to reenter the work force and receive vocational training that can help them find employment in the greater community. To that end, we also recommend that you continue to find ways to support new enxnloyment opportunities for men and women who are frequently frozen out of the job market. Not only does TMHA operate the aforementioned social enterprises in the City of San Luis Obispo, but we collaborate with other local businesses and employers through our Supported Employment Program. All told, we helped nearly 150 men and women with mental health challenges to return to the work force last year, and this has been a critical step in their advancing towards independent living. Finally, we would like to remind the Commission of another important community service that receives a little less attention than others. SLO Hotline is a 24-hour,free and confidential call center serving the entire county of San Luis Obispo. The program is devoted to calls that are categorized as suicide prevention, mental health crisis management, mental health information, education and referral, and stigma reduction. SLO Hotline has become a critical community asset. The more our residents recognize that SLO Hotline is a readily available, multi -faceted resource, and the more the stigma of mental illness is reduced through community education campaigns, then the greater the demand for this service. We have witnessed the effect directly: hi fiscal year 2015-16, over 8,600 calls were made to SLO Hotline, with over 800 being Suicide Crisis and Mental Health Crisis calls. Without a 2417 call line that is a compassionate, immediate response for defusing many emotional crises, the use of emergency facilities and responders would skyrocket, at a significant cost to our City and County. Thank you for your consideration of these issues. We appreciate all that you do for the City of San Luis Obispo. Jill Bolster -White, Executive Director Meghan Boaz Alvarez, Clinical Director Barry Johnson, Division Director Rehabilitation and Advocacy Services Joe Madsen, Division Director Housing and Support Services Frank Ricceri, Division Director Social Enterprises, Recovery Learning Communities, and Santa Barbara County Housing r'