Goleta’s Homelessness Strategic Plan Moving Forward

City of Goleta staff held an interactive and engaging Community Update Meeting for Goleta’s Homelessness Strategic Plan on February 19, 2020, at the Goleta Community Center. More than 50 community members and representatives from a variety of organizations attended and learned more about the steps being taken to craft the City’s Homelessness Strategic Plan. Attendees were asked to provide input on the prioritization of suggestions to be included in the draft plan, which would then be brought to Council.

On March 3, the results of the Community Open House, Community Survey, as well as all other input and research was presented holistically to City Council in order to discuss draft recommendations for the Homelessness Strategic Plan’s goals. Short-term, mid-term, and long-term goals and objectives were included for review. View the staff report here. Looking forward, staff will now create the draft Homelessness Strategic Plan to present before Council in late April or early May. This will be immediately followed by a review period for the community. Staff hope to hear from the community regarding the draft plan prior to finalizing for adoption with Council this summer.

City staff previously held a Community Open House in December 2019, as well as stakeholder meetings, and released a community survey (which has received more than 430 responses). This public engagement is part of a larger effort to address homelessness, including best practice discussions with communities nationwide and enhanced partnerships on regional homelessness efforts.

Community input is an essential part of the City of Goleta’s effort to develop the City’s first comprehensive Homelessness Strategic Plan. We appreciate the community’s involvement and input in this process thus far and look forward to continued engagement during this important effort.

For more information, please contact Dominique Samario, Management Analyst for the City of Goleta, at dsamario@cityofgoleta.org or 805-690-5126. Learn more about Goleta’s Homelessness Strategic Plan at tinyurl.com/GoletaHomelessnessPlan.

Photo: Homelessness Strategic Plan Community Update Meeting on February 19, 2020