City of Ventura
and community work together to provide services to homeless people this
winter
The City of Ventura and a
host of community leaders, volunteers, agencies and organizations have been working
together to provide essential services to homeless people this winter.The process
began with a series of Community Dialogues this fall, followed by the establishment
of Camp Hope from November 30 to December 2, to assist people cleared from the
Ventura River bed to take advantage of the Winter Warming Shelter during the
winter months. A subsequent community effort in December has provided homeless
people (particularly those with pets) the option of camping outdoors at Emma
Wood State Park. See topics and links below for more information on all these
initiatives.
Camp
Hope
A wide range of service, city and county government agencies, businesses
and volunteers from throughout Ventura County came forward to provide
strong support
for Camp Hope – a three day in-take shelter at the Ventura Armory that
is providing 50-60 homeless people, evacuated this week from the Ventura Riverbed,
essential services to prepare them for the Winter Warming Shelter and eventual
self-sufficiency.
“This compassionate relocation effort evolved from community dialogues
and contributions from many people, businesses and organizations,” said
Community Services Manager Peter Brown, who is directing Camp Hope. “It
is very important to give credit to the many individuals and agencies for their
big role in making Camp Hope a success.”
Read
More (Press Release - PDF)
Community
Dialog
To Brainstorm Short
Term Solutions to Prevent People from Living in the Ventura River Bed
this Winter
The
City of Ventura convened a series of “Community Dialog” beginning
on Wednesday, October 27 to bring together the homeless and their
advocates, Downtown
and Westside merchants, residents and property owners, church leaders,
social service providers and city and county officials to develop a
short-term public safety plan to move people living in the Ventura
River bed out of this fragile environment for this winter. The forum
was held from 1:30-5 pm at the Serra Center, 211 E. Main St., behind
Mission San Buenaventura.
“The challenge of homelessness in Ventura and across the nation is deep-seated,
complex and beyond the capabilities of local government to tackle alone,” said
City Manager Rick Cole. “The idea is to have the stakeholders and service
groups help each other and not look to the city alone to solve the matter," Social
Services Division manager Peter Brown said. "This is about generating community-driven
solutions, not more government."
Read minutes from the 4 Community Dialog meetings below.
| Upcoming Meetings | |
| Date | Location: |
| To
Be Announced |
To
Be Announced |
| Past Meeting Notes |
| November 16, 2004 |
| November 9, 2004 |
| November 3, 2004 |
| October
27, 2004 |
Contact
Information
For more information or special needs please contact:
| Patrick
Miller Police Chief Ventura Police Department 1425 Dowell Dr. Ventura, CA 93003 (805) 339-4400 pmiller@ci.ventura.ca.us |
or
|
Peter
Brown |