A unanimous Redding City Council voted to direct $355,000 in federal funding for a six-bedroom home on Park Marina Drive that will house up to a dozen homeless and low-income veterans.
Tuesday’s 5-0 vote allows the local branch of the Veterans Resource Centers of America (VRC) to purchase the $330,000 home and make about $27,000 in improvements before opening it up for transitional housing.
Funds for the purchase price come from the federally funded HOME Investment Partnerships Program and will be offered to the VRC in the form of a 30-year loan at 1 percent interest. Operated through the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the HOME program is designed to help state and local governments create affordable housing for low-income residents.
Deputy City Manager Greg Clark said the VRC, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, currently offers 110 transitional beds and another 60 for behavioral health treatment, but none of them are local. There are an estimated 720 to 1,300 homeless veterans in Shasta County, Clark added.
The 2,500-square-foot home will not be a treatment facility, Clark said. Its residents will receive counseling, work training and case management services with the goal of moving them into the work force and into more permanent housing. Drug and alcohol use is prohibited in the home.
Day-to-day operation of the home will be funded by the Veterans Administration. To qualify for residency, veterans must have an income below 50 percent of the area’s median income. The home will provide safe housing, clean bedding and three meals per day.
“We’ve all struggled to find solutions for housing,” Councilwoman Francie Sullivan said in making a motion to approve the purchase agreement, “and veterans are at the top of everybody’s list … I’m glad there are people here making this happen.”
In other action Tuesday, the council:
–Voted 5-0 to accept $80,000 from the McConnell Foundation for the 2015 Freedom Festival fireworks display. Councilwoman Missy McArthur said she had the matter pulled from the council’s consent calendar to allow her the opportunity to publicly thank the philanthropic organization for continuing to support the Redding community.
Kim Niemer, Redding’s Community Services director, said 15,000 people turn out for the Fourth of July fireworks display and at least twice that many enjoy the display from vantage points throughout the city.
Jon Lewis is a freelance writer living in Redding. He has more than 30 years experience writing for newspapers and magazines. Contact him at jonpaullewis@gmail.com.
