Providing Paths into Permanent Housing: Celebrating the Successful Implementation of the City’s Temporary RV Safe Parking Program
Housing and homelessness have been the #1 priority of the City Council since 2019. Homelessness is a complex issue with a variety of contributing factors including insufficient mental health resources and the high cost of housing. The City works in close partnership with the County of San Mateo to address homelessness and though we have undertaken a number of initiatives to provide additional services and support basic needs, including safe spaces and emergency housing, we are just getting started.
Homelessness requires solutions at all levels of government and we have been partnering with the State and County on immediate and long-term solutions.
In this Blog post, we will highlight the City’s Temporary RV Safe Parking Program and share more on how this two-year program is working as hoped since its launch in October 2020.
Where We Started
The City Council Safe Parking Ad Hoc Committee was formed to explore safe parking options for households living in RV/Motorhomes on the streets in Redwood City with the short-term goal of finding ways to mitigate health, safety and environmental concerns while continuing to respond to issues as they were reported. Prior to COVID-19, this included regularly scheduled street-sweeping/clean-ups in areas with the highest concentration of RV/Motorhomes on the streets and providing vouchers for sewage disposal at a local dumping and water refill station. Once the pandemic hit and Shelter-in-Place orders were enacted, we continued our clean-up efforts and we also deployed port-a-potties and handwashing stations at key locations throughout the City and continued to facilitate access to the Countywide shelter system for individuals seeking alternative emergency shelter options.
The long-term goal was to identify permanent housing solutions for RV residents.
As a follow-up to the January 2019 Countywide One Day Homeless Count, where nearly half of the 221 unsheltered individuals living in Redwood City were living in RVs on the street, the County Human Services Agency conducted a survey of 80 RV Households countywide. Over half were from South San Mateo County; with the majority of those living in Redwood City.
· 64% stated that they are fully or partially employed; with an average monthly income of $2,270 for households that were fully employed
· 19% stated that they are on Supplemental Security Income/Social Security Disability Income (SSI/SSDI)
· 8% reported having a home elsewhere, but were living in their RV to be closer to work.
The reasons cited for RV residency included: high cost of rent (54%), eviction (13%), family conflict (11%), loss of income (5%), and other (17%)
The data from this survey was validated based on the feedback we received from our RV residents during our outreach.
We are finding that our two-year program has been working as we hoped, providing safety net services to the City’s RV residents while helping people move into permanent housing.
Putting Together a Plan for Success
The City Council Safe Parking Ad Hoc Committee built upon the work that had previously been done by the Housing and Human Concerns Committee on Vehicular Housing. Staff and Ad Hoc Committee members researched best practices and engaged with other communities; visited several cities to view safe parking programs (i.e., East Palo Alto, Mountain View, San Jose); and attended the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference to further our research on solutions to end individual homelessness.
Early on, we determined the importance of conducting community meetings to better understand the impact of RV residents living in locations not intended for that purpose. From the neighborhood residents and businesses, we learned that the majority of people felt that RV residents should have a safe place to park. There was also ongoing concern about health and safety related issues such as garbage, human waste, improper dumping of black water, traffic safety, theft, etc.
Our meetings with RV residents validated the results of the RV Survey conducted by the County:
· The majority lived in Redwood City prior to moving into the RV/Motorhome they currently lived in
· The majority were households that previously rented an apartment or even a room, but could no longer afford to
· Mostly adult only households, but there were also families with children
· Most were working adults — construction workers, auto mechanics, college graduates, sales representatives; some were on fixed incomes
· While there were some who live in their RV/Motorhome during the week while they work in the area and return to a home outside of the area on the weekend, the vast majority of households were living in their RV/Motorhome every night; many for over a year
· Most considered living in their RV/Motorhome as a temporary situation
Launch of Pilot Program in October 2020
All of the information gathered -data, research, community meetings — led to a two-pronged approach: prohibit overnight RV parking on City streets while simultaneously offering off-street safe parking and on-street permitted parking options for RV residents that were living on Redwood City streets at the program’s inception.
In October 2020 we created the largest Safe Parking program in the County, transitioning a majority of RVs off of City streets and into a parking lot where those residents could safely park and work on a path to permanent housing, and still allowed RV residents to park on the street using a permit so long as they enrolled in the City’s safe parking program. The program launched in tandem with the City’s prohibition of overnight parking of RVs on the street and included working with Assemblymember Phil Ting on AB2553 which made it possible to open the 24/7 Safe Parking Site.
The program, operated by the City’s nonprofit partner, LifeMoves, includes both the City’s Safe Parking Site at 1402 Maple Street for 40 RV households and additional on-street permitted parking for approved participants.
Celebrating Many Successes of the Program
As we mentioned, the goal of the temporary RV Safe Parking Program is to assist RV residents with transitioning to permanent housing.
Prior to the launch of the program, there was an average of 100 RVS on the street each night. During the course of implementing the Safe Parking Program and prior to the overnight prohibition going into effect, there was a high of 140 RVs counted.
As of February 2, 2022:
· Of the 114 households that applied for the Safe Parking Program:
· 18 households have transitioned to permanent housing
· 36 households are on the Safe Parking Site
· 15 households have street permits
· 3 households have gone into shelter
· 5 households have chosen to leave the program for other alternatives
· 26 households never completed the process or voluntarily left the program
· 3 households were exited from the program due to non-compliance
· 8 households were ineligible for the program
We have successfully shifted the presence of unsheltered households living in RVs on the street from a high of 140 RVs per night to an average of 12–15 per night, and most have permits for the City’s Safe Parking Program.
In addition to providing ongoing case management services aimed at helping families transition to permanent housing, LifeMoves provides a variety of services and referrals for program participants including COVID19 vaccines and testing, food, tutoring services, mental health and therapy, medical support, employment services, and more.
Of the households continuing to participate in the program, over 50% of the households have been matched to some form of housing subsidy and are on the path towards transitioning to permanent housing.
What’s Next?
Together with LifeMoves, we will continue to oversee and support the Temporary RV Safe Parking Program.
Learn more about steps the City has taken to end homelessness and ensure homes for all by viewing this year’s State of the City address at www.redwoodcity.org/StateoftheCity.
