Recent moves by the City of Soledad helps house those living along the riverbed, while setting the stage for workforce housing.

Celia Jiménez here, thinking about the upcoming transitional housing for unhoused residents coming to South County and the efforts agencies are making to keep workers in the area.

On March 5, Soledad City Council approved $1 million for 14 modular units from AMEG Enterprises, a contractor that specializes in modular homes and shelters, that will be installed as temporary transitional housing at 990 Los Coches Drive, a city-owned property. 

Staff reviewed different contractors before choosing AMEG; in the end, they chose the one that offered units that were easy to repair and find parts for. “Any piece that breaks or needs repair, we can find it at Home Depot,” says Beatriz Trujillo, Soledad’s economic development director.

The project is funded by encampment resolution funding, a state grant to combat homelessness (Monterey County received $11.2 million last year to address homelessness in King City and Soledad).

Before receiving the funds, city staff reached out to the unhoused people living along the Salinas River and cleaned the area. Once the project and the agreements between Soledad and the county were moving forward, city staff worked with the people to make sure they were linked to services, obtained IDs and housing vouchers (several people are now living at Motel 6). The unhoused population in the area reduced from 42 to about a dozen.

The facility will provide ADA-compliant housing, kitchenettes and a laundry area. The area is close to public transportation and a shopping center. “We want people to be able to get their essentials,” Trujillo says.

Once the transitional housing program ends in June 2027, the units will be repurposed. 

Soledad recently started working toward workforce housing to retain workers. It bought a one-bedroom townhouse at Las Viviendas using money the city received from selling a property to Soledad Unified School District. 

And while the city only has one unit, it will help establish policies that will ease the process once it decides to expand the number of housing units (the city is currently looking for funding). “We're thinking first priority will be to help us with recruitment [but] we also want to make sure that if those units are not being utilized for recruitment purposes, that they're also made available to people in our community,” Trujillo says.

The unit will be rented out to a city staff member whose income is between 80 to 160 percent of the median income.

I know that one unit for workforce housing doesn’t look flashy, but it’s setting the base for the future.