INVEST IN HOUSING TO END HOUSELESSNESS
katrina.foley@ocgov.com; Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com; Vicente.Sarmiento@ocgov.com; Donald.Wagner@ocgov.com; Fourth.District@ocgov.com; response@ocgov.com
Each year, the County of Orange develops a Strategic Financial Plan and our community's needs are not being recognized or funded by the OC Supervisors. Your voices matter! Join us in telling the Supervisors that their neglect is unacceptable, their unwarranted, excessive overspending on law enforcement is unacceptable, their failure to fund and support critically needed housing is unacceptable, and that diminished funding for healthcare in the form of housing (Housing is Healthcare) for our communities is unacceptable. We demand that the OC Budget and OC Strategic Financial Plan prioritize the moral obligations needed throughout OC and that the County stops needlessly overspending tax dollars on the criminalization of poverty by the OC Sheriff's Department.
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To:
katrina.foley@ocgov.com; Janet.Nguyen@ocgov.com; Vicente.Sarmiento@ocgov.com; Donald.Wagner@ocgov.com; Fourth.District@ocgov.com; response@ocgov.com
From:
[Your Name]
As Orange County’s 2024 Strategic Financial Plan notes, “Housing represents the fundamental solution to addressing and ending homelessness in Orange County; however, Orange County has one of the least affordable housing markets in the nation. The shortage of affordable housing and the accompanying high rent burdens not only contribute to homelessness but have also put a growing number of Orange County residents at-risk of homelessness. Furthermore, the existing inventory of affordable and permanent supportive housing resources remain insufficient to meet the current need within the County.” (p. 127, Strategic Financial Plan)
Yet, your current Strategic Financial Plan on access to permanent supportive and affordable housing is NOT a financial plan, as it does NOT identify any funding sources for implementation, now or in years to come. Rather, every source of funding is identified as “TBD” (to be determined). NO OTHER STRATEGIC PRIORITY in the Strategic Financial Plan FAILS TO IDENTIFY ANY FUNDING SOURCES as it does with housing. Housing is healthcare and individuals experiencing homelessness are untreated and dying at alarmingly high rates.
It is both fiscally and morally imperative that Orange County shift its strategic
focus from reactive to preventive actions in addressing homelessness. The community has spoken loud and clear that housing IS A PRIORITY. Therefore, we demand that funding be committed to permanent supportive housing as identified as a need in the Strategic Financial Plan. Let's stop spending $102 on law enforcement and jails per resident versus the $0.34 per resident spent on housing. This inequity is blatant. We demand that you allocate funding to life-saving housing, take your own Strategic Financial Plan seriously, and invest in housing that would ensure that every resident has access to a safe, permanent, and affordable home. As is evident in this communication, we are paying attention to details, educating others in those details, and are hoping that that attention is at the top of your priority list as well.
Thank you.