Patricia and her son were among the many hundreds of unhoused people living in vehicles, campers, tents and other improvised shelters in Sonoma County – a place more widely known for natural beauty, wineries and affluence. However, like so many other communities in California, Sonoma County struggled with homelessness. At one time, it had the third highest rate of homelessness per capita of any county in the US.
The causes of homelessness are complex, including lack of affordable housing, poverty, mental illness and substance abuse, among other challenges. But homelessness in Sonoma County was complicated by additional factors. “We encountered a series of bludgeoning natural disasters. We’ve had five fires, then a series of floods, droughts and the pandemic,” says James Gore, District Supervisor from the 4th District of Sonoma County. “And underneath it all, we have a growing homelessness crisis.”
Over the years, Sonoma County devoted significant resources to addressing homelessness. “However, we were not seeing the outcomes we expected, with folks continuing to fall into homelessness, and not receive the long-term support they needed,” says Tina Rivera, Director of the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. “We needed to rethink, redesign, and come up with a better solution, a better service delivery for our clients, for people like Patricia and her son.”
Read this case study and find out how Sonoma County:
- Reduced population of homeless people in Sonoma County by 9% from 2018 to 2020
- Achieved a 35% housing placement rate for homeless people that is > 4x higher than the national placement rate
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