Looking back at what’s working to solve homelessness to guide the future.

In his introductory remarks at a community meeting on Feb. 13, 2019, Seaside City Councilmember Dave Pacheco leaned into the fact that it was Valentine’s Day eve, offering seasonal cookies. He seemed hopeful that the spirit of love would influence the matter at hand, a proposed homeless shelter on County-owned property at Noche Buena Street and Broadway Avenue.

“We’re going to be cooperative, happy,” Pacheco said. “We’re all going to be positive and try to find solutions, rather than complaints.”

As the next hour-and-a-half unfolded, that proved to be wishful thinking. While some residents expressed support, many expressed vehement opposition. “We finally get the town built up – now you want to take it and destroy it,” one speaker said.

“I have no objection to housing homeless – what I don’t understand is the location,” said another. “You have enough property to go elsewhere – these are our neighborhoods.”

On it went with variations of a narrative that is commonplace in proposals related to any level of the housing crisis: I don’t oppose the premise of your goal [affordable housing, high-density market-rate units, a homeless shelter, etc.] but I don’t want it in my neighborhood. The but is laden with fear – of declining property values, diminished views, too much traffic and not enough parking, drug use and violence.

Despite the neighbors’ objections, Seaside and County of Monterey officials moved forward. Nonprofits Community Human Services and Gathering for Women teamed up to create the shelter.

When I visited on March 15, 2022 to celebrate the one-year anniversary of what became Casa De Noche Buena, the fears that had been voiced three years prior felt like an alternate reality. Instead, Casa was a clean, comfortable, inviting place with a playground. Casa didn’t go someplace else – it went right in the neighborhood (my neighborhood, as it happens).

Property values have soared. It’s a busy, safe corner where I regularly walk alone, day or night. It is in a community, instead of on the outskirts. It is within walking distance of stores and restaurants, schools, a bus stop – it’s a regular place where regular people live. Homeless people are regular people too.

On that first anniversary, despite pandemic-related challenges, Casa De Noche Buena reported 61 people had been sheltered, including 21 children; there had been 32 exits to permanent housing and four to transitional housing.

This week, CHS and Gathering are celebrating the shelter’s third anniversary and report that 223 individuals have been served (80 of them kids) with 22,957 bed nights provided. More than half have landed in permanent housing; a quarter have returned to homelessness.

Casa is an imperfect solution, but it is unquestionably part of the solution. It serves women and families and can accommodate up to 35 people, just a tiny fraction of the more than 2,000 people in Monterey County who are homeless.

But it’s a project that illustrates some of the hardest lessons related to homeless solutions. First, various funding sources and services are available to just a small segment of the population – women, or single men, or veterans. The homeless community, like the community at large, is diverse.

Local leaders working to address the issues include Roxanne Wilson, Monterey County’s director of homeless services, and Anastacia Wyatt, the City of Monterey’s housing manager. They’ll speak about some of what works in a panel discussion on March 14 (I’ll be moderating) in celebration of Casa’s third anniversary. They’ll talk about bureaucratic hurdles – how to get and utilize funds for certain types of state and federal programs, for instance – but also a part of the solution that’s entirely up to us: community buy-in.

Community opposition can be enough to derail good projects. In the case of Casa De Noche Buena, leaders did not capitulate to NIMBY fears.

Listening back now to concerns raised in 2019 makes them seem completely out of touch. Homeless people are part of our community whether we like it or not, and we have an obligation to solve this problem right here, not somewhere else.

SOLVING HOMELESSNESS: A COMMUNITY CONVERSATION is at 2pm Thursday, March 14 at Carpenter Hall, Sunset Center, San Carlos and 8th, Carmel. Free. 658-3811, chservices.org.

SARA RUBIN is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@mcweekly.com.