The San Bernardino County Homeless Partnership (SBCHP) celebrated its 13th Annual Homeless Summit on November 8, where they reviewed their annual strides in tackling homelessness within the county.
According to the official press release, with the county's commitment of $72.7 million to address their homelessness issue, the summit convened officials from various sectors, such as Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca Jr. and Fontana Mayor Acquanetta Warren, along with numerous representatives from community and faith-based organizations. Their collective partnership strives to provide stable housing for the 4,000 homeless individuals in the county.
The summit demonstrated the advancements they managed to briefly make, such as transforming Lutheran Social Services of Southern California's Wellness Center in San Bernardino into a temporary housing facility. They've also expanded the availability of affordable housing in the mountainous areas with initiatives like Project Roomkey and the acquisition of Georgia Street Cabins in Big Bear through the Housing Authority of San Bernardino County.
Meanwhile, in Morongo Basin, initiatives carried out by Align Resources and Challenge Homelessness (ARCH), have focused attentively on helping homeless veterans. They procured a duplex under California’s Homekey Project in Yucca Valley and developed an emergency shelter in Twentynine Palms. Additional housing, totaling 35 new beds, was also introduced to accommodate homeless seniors, individuals, and families in the desert region.
Concerning younger demographics experiencing homelessness, Ruben Mendoza, a youth advocate and Youth Advisory Board representative for the Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH), highlighted the 2023 Point IN Time Count (PITC) findings. The data revealed that out of 2,948 homeless individuals, 799 were 35 years old or younger. Mendoza proposed various measures to tackle youth homelessness, including boosting housing construction, integrating mental wellness programs in schools, and promoting financial literacy education.
Actor Noel Gugliemi featured as a guest speaker during the summit, recounting his personal journey dealing with hardship, gang involvement, and homelessness during his teenage years. Guided by the influence of the Christian community and his faith, he managed to "to bring his life around" and inspire the audience with his testimony.
"I give my credit to God," said Gugliemi. "When I started learning the Word of God, I began to increase in wisdom, and I was able to turn my life around. That's what God does for you; He gives you a new way of thinking."
The path towards a more inclusive society is a collective endeavor to "bring our collective resources together to create that sense of home," as Assistant Executive Officer Diana Alexander, Vice-Chair of the ICH, conveyed during the event.
