HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 08091988 - 1.37 1-03'7
TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM:. Harvey E. Bragdon ^A,,;♦
Director of Community Development Cwt
DATE: July 21, 1988 Costa
Courcy
SUBJECT: Allocation of Additional CDBG Funds for HandsNet Home ess Resource
Program
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATIONS(S) &- BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Allocate an additional $8,865 from CDBG contingency funds to
Shelter, Inc. to pay for additional office space and incidental
costs associated with implementation of the new HandsNet Homeless
Resource Program.
BACKGROUND/REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
Shelter, Inc. has secured the necessary computer equipment and
volunteers to implement the HandsNet Homeless Resource Program.
This program is a statewide telecommunications system which links
federal and state as well as all local, public and private agencies
whose scope of services include the multi-faceted issues of
homelessness.
However, Shelter; Inc. does not have adequate office space to house
this new function. Space is available in - the same building that
houses their programs at a reasonable rate.
The Housing and Community Development Advisory Committee is not
scheduled to meet again until October. Therefore, staff rfcommends
approval of this request which is . consistent with past a ti ns o
the Committee.
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:. YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMEND OF B COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S) :
ACTION OF BOARD ON A11K APPROVED °AS"RRECOMMENDED '�L..OTHER
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A
UNANIMOUS (ABSENT �^ ) TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN
AYES: NOES: ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS_ ON THE DATE SHOWN.
cc: Community Development ATTESTED AUG 9 7988
CAO (via Risk Mgmt. ) PHIL BATCHELOR, CLERK OF
County Counsel THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
Auditor (c/o Nona) AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR
Contractor
BY DEPUTY
DF:cg
cd6/handsnet.bo
-2-
student interns , a bookkeeper, court-ordered work appointees ,
and five 3/4 time "HandsNet" volunteers . We are now officially
occupying two; United Way offices , and unofficially spilling over
into temporarily empty United Way offices , carrells , the FAX
machine desk , kitchen and conference room'. The number of United
Way phone lines used by our operation follows suit . This
constant flow of traffic, intrinsic to our operation, does not
even include the many homeless clients themselves who are
directed by signs to the back door of our rooms so as not to
disrupt the United Way operations . Because of our special
limitations , we are in fact forced to restrict the number of
homeless we see and the number of volunteers who wish to assist
our operation.
An office space in our building which only recently has become
available is the ideal solution to our office space needs . In
this space , conveniently located directly across the hall from
our existing operation at the United Way, we will be able to
provide our . Housing Crisis Fund and Information and Referral
direct service programs to our homeless clients while also
implementing CHART' S new HandsNet Homeless Resource Program. Our
core staff will be able to remain across the hall.,...still housed
by the United Way, in order to maintain our mutually beneficial
relationship and retain the generous in-kind United Way donations
of office space, phones , conference room and photocopying
equipment. A more ideal situation at this stage of our
organizational development could not be imagined.
We are highly encouraged by your positive response to our
petition for funds to set up our new office for the HandsNet
operations . The total amount of our request is $8 , 865 . The
rent for August 1988 through March 1989 will be $6065 . 00 ( $0 . 95
per sq. ft . x 798 sq. ft . x 8 mo . ) and our bare bones telephone
and program. incidental costs for community outreach and service
programs to be $2 , 800 ( $350 per mo , x 8 mo . ) . If ,you need more
specific details of our operation, please contact us . We are
most appreciative of the county' s CDBG funding of homeless
programs in the past, and are anxious to maintain our high degree
of program excellence , providing services to benefit our county' s
homeless .
Sincerely,
Carol Severn. , Executive Director
Be C -ill -Reynolds
Housing C Isis Fund and HandsNet Manager
OFFICE ON HOMELESSNESS
C/O UNITED WAY OF THE BAY AREA
g 1070 CONCORD AVENUE, SUITE 270 fr •
Y CONCORD,'CA 94520 ;'r ` .''n ,.
(415) 827-3598
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
TASKFORCE ON HOMELESSNESS
�r
July 15 , 1988
Dennis Fransen, Principal Planner
Community Development Department
651 Pine Street
4th Floor, North Wing
Martinez , California 94553
Dear Dennis :
Thank you for your interest in our county' s new HandsNet Homeless
Resource Program and your concern over SHELTER, Inc. ' s lack of
office space in which to operate it .
As we discussed earlier this week, HandsNet is a statewide
telecommunications system which links federal and state as well
as all local public and private agencies whose scope of services
include the multi-faceted issues of homelessness :` ""broad-Lias,e
homelessness resource bulletin of this type in Contra Costa
County has been in the visionary stage for over two years
throughout the progression of our county' s homeless action
development , from the grassroot stage of the citizen-based Task
Force on Homelessness in 1986 to our new, more sophisticated and
empowered county-sponsored CHART in 1988 . Finally, through the
capabilities of the AppleLink HandsNet system, the Contra Costa
County Homeless Resource Bulletin and Telecommunications Network
is about to become a reality. The County' s new Community
Homeless Action and Resource Team (CHART) has raised the funds
necessary to purchase the computer equipment and implement the
program in our SHELTER, Inc. Office on Homelessness . Staffed by
volunteers and supervised by SHELTER, Inc . , resource bulletins
will be distributed to county departments , cities , non-profit
agencies and religious organizations concerned with homelessness
in our county. The computers and volunteers have now arrived
with only one glitch in the program. SHELTER, Inc. has
outgrown its present office space .
SHELTER, Inc. has been in operation since November 1986 . Our
dramatic growth over the last one and half years has been in
response to the ever escalating numbers of homeless in our
county. We have grown from one , 16 hour per week employee
occupying an in-kind donation desk in the United Way office to
four full-time staff, one part-time senior clerical worker, two
SHELTER Inc. is a charitable, non-profit corporation, fiscal agent for the Task Force on Homelessness.
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