By Live Well San Diego, Town Hall
In the latest town hall addressing important community topics, the County of San Diego and Voice & Viewpoint came together to discuss how the new department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities (HSEC) is supporting under-resourced San Diegans.
The virtual town hall, held Wednesday, Dec. 14, was moderated by Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John Warren and County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Director Nick Macchione.
After welcoming remarks by Macchione and Dr. Warren, touching on the importance of community feedback surrounding the issues of homelessness, equitable resources and refugee and immigrant services, HSEC Community Operations Officer Barbara Jiménez gave a brief presentation.
Jiménez shared information about HSEC’s work to ensure equity among San Diegans and reduce homelessness in the region by better coordinating County resources and serving as a central point of collaboration for community partners.
The HSEC team joining the town hall included Dijana Beck, Director of the Office of Homeless Solutions, Jennifer Bransford-Koons, Director of the Office of Equitable Communities, Lucero Chavez Basilio, Director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Liberty Donnelly, HSEC Deputy Director Crystal Skerven, HSEC Central Regional Community Coordinator and Elizabeth Bustos, HHSA Equity Liaison.
The presentation on the department’s work outlined steps the County is taking to improve the system for historically under-resourced communities. It covered an increase in collaboration with critical partners in local governments and nonprofits to provide widespread community resources and expanded outreach to meet people where they are.
Jiménez said creating a more equitable San Diego begins with the people who are doing the work. HSEC, which launched in July of 2021, has stressed the importance of a diverse workforce, hiring team members who live, work and play in the areas they serve and who have lived experiences such as immigrants and refugees and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
In their work to build equity and break down barriers, HSEC has expanded services to those experiencing homelessness by launching more outreach teams that are able to link people to County services like CalFresh, MediCal and CalWorks by completing applications and determining eligibility in the field.
Another program, called Communities in Action, is helping families and individuals by assessing household needs and providing supportive services as well as increasing access to classes and workshops for things like career development and domestic violence prevention.
When it comes to the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, Jiménez emphasized the work being done to ensure culturally and linguistically appropriate services are offered to help immigrants and refugees adapt to their new environment. The department has held listening sessions to ensure community voices are heard.
The town hall presentation underscored the importance of working together to achieve progress.
“No one entity can do it alone,” Jiménez said. “The vision of this department is to work with partners and community organizations doing tremendously important work and collaborate with other local governments in order to best serve our community.”
For example, the Office of Homeless Solutions leads direct services like case management and distribution of emergency housing vouchers for those experiencing homelessness in the County’s unincorporated areas. It also leads outreach in smaller jurisdictions that may not have the capacity to set up their own outreach teams. In a larger incorporated jurisdiction such as the City of San Diego, the office collaborates with city teams to build a more robust response system to homelessness.
Another example of collaboration is the County’s Capital Emergency Housing Grant Program which recently made $10 million in funding opportunities available to the County’s 18 incorporated cities. Six cities were awarded the money to support a variety of shelter and safe parking projects.
The presentation also highlighted the direct impact in the community. In the central region that includes Southeastern San Diego, the Office of Homeless Solutions reported 11,027 engagements in the last fiscal year that included 874 connections to shelter and housing.
The Office of Equitable Communities participated in more than 484 community events and distributed county resources that directly touched the lives of more than 39,000 people.
Following the presentation, questions from town hall attendees were answered. They were wide ranging, covering recent increases in homelessness and possible reasons why, the challenges of rapid rent increases and plans for building more permanent affordable housing.
The entire Q&A sessions is available to view within the recording. The link is on the Voice & Viewpoint website.
For more information about San Diego County Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities, visit the HSEC website. The entire town hall series is available by searching online for San Diego HHSA YouTube channel and click on “videos.”
Article courtesy of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency.
NAMES, TITLES, PHONE NUMBERS
Barbara Jiménez
Community Operations Officer
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
619-338-2722
Dijana Beck
Director, Office of Homeless Solutions
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
619-338-2636
Jennifer Bransford-Koons
Director, Office of Equitable Communities
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
858-636-3535
Lucero Chavez Basilio
Director, Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
442-266-6302
Elizabeth Bustos
Agency Equity Liaison
Health and Human Services Agency
(619) 515-6587
Liberty Donnelly
Deputy Director
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
619-338-2702
Crystal Skerven
Central Regional Community Coordinator
Department of Homeless Solutions and Equitable Communities
(760) 607-2911
