Santa Maria
DignityMoves in Santa Maria
We're Ending Homelessness in Santa Maria and You Can Help
The DignityMoves community in downtown Santa Barbara was so well-received that the County Board of Supervisors voted to partner with DignityMoves to build over 300 rooms – enough interim supportive housing to help close the “shelter gap” in the entire county! The County has identified several county-own parcels across the county based on the regional distribution of unsheltered homelessness. Hope Village is the first community underway located at 511 Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria, across the street from the Betteravia government complex. This community will have 94 rooms, 11 of which will be allocated specifically for transitional age youth (“TAY”) and operated by a TAY specialist organization, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley. 30 of the rooms in this Village will be dedicated to Dignity Health and reserved for people exiting the hospital system. We anticipate opening doors to residents by July 2023.
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A Closer Look at Hope Village, Santa Maria
Site
Hope Village will have 94 cabins, with each cabin designed to house one individual or couple. All units are for those experiencing homelessness in the Santa Maria Valley.
- 54 will be for chronically homeless individuals and couples
- 10 will be for Transitional Age Youth (“TAY”) ages 18-24, many who are aging out of the foster system
- 30 rooms will provide recuperative/respite care which allows individuals experiencing homelessness to have a safe place to rest and recover.
- Referrals will be through the homeless response system Coordinated Entry process. Dignity Health’s Marian Regional Medical Center will coordinate this for homeless respite care needs. We anticipate construction to begin in February 2023 and opening doors to residents by July 2023.
Services
With over 27 years of experience, Good Samaritan, has an exceptional reputation for providing trauma informed care and tailored services to help address the root causes of homelessness through their experience and partnerships with other organizations. We are partnering with them again to deliver robust services for the residents including meals, case management, and connecting clients to mental health care, addiction services, SSI and other benefits like providing job placement resources, and even transportation to off-site appointments. Specialty services will be provided to the young adult populations by Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley on site as well as units for recuperative care patients.
Community
Approximately 1,962 people are experiencing homelessness in Santa Barbara County on any given night. Of those individuals, over 70% live unsheltered in places not meant for human habitation: on streets, along riverbeds, on beaches, and in encampments. 23% (457) of the people experiencing homelessness in the County are in the Santa Maria Valley, and 297 of them are unsheltered. This 94 unit interim housing community provides badly-needed beds to bring those people indoors where they can get the care they need. It is anticipated that individuals in the 54 units for the chronically homeless will be on site for up to 180 days on average.