The City of Burbank in partnership with the StreetPlus Team has hit a new milestone and assisted 103 of Burbank’s homeless population by finding them housing, getting them placed in shelters, and/or reunited with their families.
The eight Street Plus team members, paid for by the Downtown Burbank Property Improvement District, have been working with Burbank’s homeless community since April 2019. During the last two years StreetPlus has worked in collaboration with the City, Burbank Mental Health Evaluation Team, and partnering agencies to provide the homeless with the necessary health, housing, and basic resources they need. The 103 homeless they have assisted include placing them in shelters like Project Room Key and Home Key, placing them into Bridge Home facilities, Permanent Supportive Housing, Emergency Shelters, Group Homes, Skilled Nursing locations, Residential Care Facilities, Rehabilitation, and Family reunification. Each placement is done carefully, considering the best interest of the individual and their circumstance.
Project Room Key was developed in response to the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic to shelter individuals experiencing homelessness. The state procured 15,679 hotel and motel rooms and 1,345 trailers and served an estimated 14,200 individuals in 52 counties in its three months since launching. To ensure more permanent shelter and services, Project Home Key was later developed. Twenty-nine of Burbank’s homeless individuals have been placed into Project Room Key and Home Key thus far.
“Working in collaboration with the City of Burbank to provide long term solutions for the homeless has been a fulfilling experience,” said StreetPlus Operations Manager, Bob Newman. “We recently worked together to assess the needs of a Burbank homeless individual and were able to successfully place him in the Project Home Key program within just 5 days.”
“By helping house and reunify more than 100 of Burbank’s homeless population, the Street Plus team proves to be an invaluable part of the City of Burbank homeless services team,” said Assistant Community Development Director Simone McFarland. “Although we are proud of the 103 individuals we have assisted, we know there is still work that needs to be done to continue to help the homeless in need.”
Learn more about what the City of Burbank is currently doing to help homeless individuals and families here.
Thank you for helping the homeless. While you did mention “partnering agencies” what has not been mentioned is the millions of dollars in private money that have been raised to fund assistance programs for the unsheltered homeless and low income persons within Burbank.
Some of these organizations and groups do not wish to see tax dollars spent on these programs due to the very high costs associated with salaries and CalPERS. In my humble opinion, assisting the homeless can be more efficiently handled by nonprofits and volunteers.
Thank you for helping people in need, however, please know that government-run and government-funded programs are not the only groups and people assisting our homeless and it would be appropriate to always mention that clearly in your posts.
Thank you.
Comments are closed.