As the staff report notes, the Homeless Strategic Plan approved on February 6, 2024 was the product of “nearly 12 months of collecting community input, administering surveys, coordinating focus group and Working Group sessions, and conducting thorough research.”

The final plan presented to the City Council was a balancing of limited resources, diverse perspectives and priorities, weighing of multiple options, and ultimately, the drafting of a data-driven series of recommendations “with measurable goals and strategies” and which identified potential funding sources.

Detailed information on the Homeless Strategic Plan development process is available on this web page.

As both a councilmember and chair of the Working Group, I fully endorsed the vision drafted during the process:

“The City of Concord envisions a community where every person has a safe, affirming, and stable place to live. This vision endeavors to reduce homelessness through community involvement, collaboration with partner agencies (government and non-government), and enhanced services that are carried out in a dignified, compassionate, and equitable manner.”

In brief, the following strategies within the Plan are actions the City can take to achieve the Plan’s stated goals. These strategies were developed by the Working Group
through feedback from stakeholders and utilization of an evidence-based, best-practice framework:

• Mobile Resource Center
• Rapid Re-Housing
• Interim Housing Models
  • Scattered Site
  • Scattered Site Tiny Homes
  • Centralized Tiny Homes
  • Interim Motel Housing

As a part of its approval of the draft plan, the Council provided specific direction on implementation of the Plan:

• The City will rely on the existing ARPA and one-time Measure V funds that totaled $5.4 million as the City’s share of funding towards implementing the program and any grant funds the City receives.
• The City will not add regular full-time staff to implement the Plan or add General Fund dollars to pay for implementation costs.
• The City will work through third-party organizations to provide the programs and services as the first approach to implementing the Plan.

I want to extend my thanks to all of the participants in the Working Group - staff, consultants, and members, for all of their hard work. I also want to note that collaboration and community involvement are key parts of the plan, so I encourage all Concord residents to consider how they might help contribute to solving homelessness in our city.

The full Homeless Strategic Plan in PDF form can be downloaded here.

An important background report on homelessness in Concord can be downloaded here.