San Antonio – The City of San Antonio’s Department of Human Services alongside the South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless and Homebase will host meetings about the homeless strategic plan starting next week.
“Since we partnered with Homebase, we’ve had a series of industry-specific stakeholder meetings, whether it’s housing providers, real estate developers, homeless providers,” said Marjoriee White, homeless administrator for the Department of Human Services.
White said these meetings have helped gather data on how to move forward when it comes to the homeless population.
Volunteers come together to count San Antonio’s homeless population
She said it has been hands-on for the California team working on the plan.
“They’ve also walked the streets of San Antonio late at night. Walk in the shoes of a client that’s experiencing homelessness so that you can understand from the client experience,” White said.
Homebase was contracted to help create a 5-10 year homeless strategic plan that is expected to be released in March to the public.
White said there are a few things that have stood out from their findings so far.
“Definitely looking at homeless prevention efforts, looking at street outreach. Expanding that program. Permanent supportive housing, which is permanent housing with wraparound services attached to it to help people maintain their housing. Employment and access to mental health and substance use treatment,” White said.
White said the more they hear from the community, the better the plan will be.
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To learn more about the meetings, click here.