December 17, 1999

This Strategic Plan is dedicated to the people of Petaluma.

We offer a special tribute to the Petaluma elected officials and city employees for their commitment to the very needy people in our community, and for their support of COTS.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

During an off-site "Board Development" meeting early in 1999, the COTS Board of Directors set as a high priority the development of a COTS Strategic Plan, which is set forth in this document. The purpose of this Plan is to establish a framework for the next several years of COTS’ efforts both to meet the basic needs of homeless people in Petaluma and South Sonoma County, and to help them get back under a roof of their own whenever possible. The Plan also identifies potential resources needed for this effort.

Our perception (see the Situation Analysis section) is that our present Strategic Directions are providing for far less than the basic needs of many of our neighbors. Even if our perception of the unmet need were to be halved, and despite the outstanding efforts of our community to date (which surely rank with the best efforts in any community in our country), we would still be woefully short of providing the comprehensive "safety net" that a compassionate and caring community should provide for its disadvantaged citizens.

Accordingly, in fulfillment of our Mission and doing our best to live up to our Vision, the following Strategic Directions have been established for COTS from the present through the year 2003:

 

As much as possible, our helping efforts will continue to emphasize that homeless people must do all they can to help themselves. We are not about dependency—we are about helping people become independent. Helping people to help themselves fosters self-respect, an essential ingredient for long-term success.

We do, however, face the reality that some people are so dysfunctional that they will require more than a helping hand, for perhaps even the rest of their lives. We plan to do our best to see to it that our society provides adequately for them, in part because of who they are—damaged human beings who cannot do much to help themselves—and in part because of who we are, representatives of a community that measures its worth and success not by how far the most gifted and able can rise, but by how low the most vulnerable are permitted to fall.

MISSION and VISION

"I expect to pass through life but once—If therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow-being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."

--William Penn

Mission statement:

The mission of COTS is to offer help and hope to homeless persons, and to persons at risk for being homeless, in Southern Sonoma County by providing them safe shelter and helping them attain a home of their own.

Vision statement:

COTS is an expression of the people in our community who are taking responsibility for helping homeless people in Petaluma and in the South County. Helping homeless people is a responsibility of the community, and COTS is one of the most visible ways that the community fulfills this responsibility. We are entrusted as stewards of community resources to do this important work. Ideally, there are no "us" and "them" here: people who are homeless, COTS, the people who care and the people who don’t care all have a place in the community.

There are several implications of this perspective. One is that COTS serves the community as a whole by serving the homeless. Another is that the needs of the homeless people are not elevated by COTS over the needs of those with homes (nor, of course, should the converse be true); we seek solutions that benefit everyone. Finally, we do not see ourselves as having an adversarial relationship with others in the community. Instead, we work with other community institutions, including law enforcement and local government, as well as other social service providers and groups, as allies with the community as a whole and together build a healthy community which supports, respects and cares about all of its members.

By regarding homeless people as members of the community, we recognize that they have obligations to the community as well as rights and expectations. In general terms, we call these obligations "giving back." Virtually everyone, including people who are homeless for most reasons, have something to give. That may be at a place in their lives where they very much need to take, but still they should give what they can. For example, they can pull their own weight in programs by washing the dishes they use and keeping their living quarters clean (unless prevented from doing this by a disability). If not encumbered with children or jobs, many can give back to the community that supports them by performing some service to the community each week, provided that this does not interfere with their efforts to improve their situation. Apart from benefiting the community, this perspective shows people that they have worth and builds self-esteem.

Another element of COTS’ success has been focus. By drawing strength from our community, and by not getting overextended geographically, we have enjoyed healthy and (we hope) sustainable growth in Petaluma and, recently, Rohnert Park. However, there are communities in the County that are not served by organizations like COTS, and in which there is both support for this work and need for this work. Our focus must continue to be narrow enough for success, but we may need to broaden our geographic scope to ensure that needy people are taken care of.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

"Homelessness is not a condition; it is an outcome of mental illness, drug abuse, alcoholism, disability, chronic illness, and just plain hard times. The problems that drive the homeless into the streets are complex and persistent. They cannot be solved by a hot shower, a warm meal and a bed. If we are to truly help these people, we must address the problems that have rendered them homeless in the first place—and that means we need to encourage and enable homeless people, as much as possible, to take responsibility for their own destinies." --Henry Cisneros

According to the Sonoma County Continuum of Care Plan the various reasons for homelessness include:

We don’t know precisely the scope of the problem of homelessness in South Sonoma County. There are some things we do know. We know that over 20% (14 million) of the children in the United States are living below the poverty line, and that about 20% of the families in Sonoma County cannot make ends meet. We can reasonably estimate that thousands of Petalumans live below the poverty line. We also know that 5.7% of the residents of Sonoma County suffer from some form of mental illness or developmental disability.

We know the estimate of shortages of bed/unit space for people residing in Sonoma County. The Sonoma County Community Development Commission provided, in the 1999 Revision of the Sonoma County Continuum of Care Plan, the following "Gap Analysis" for Beds/Units for Individuals and Persons in Families with Children:

Cots Logo

 
Executive Summary

Mission and Vision

Situation Analysis

Current  Effort

Required Effort-
New Strategic Directions

Summary of 
New Strategic Directions

Next Steps

 

"Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless plans and ideas: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no person could have dreamt would come their way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:


"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it."

Quotation from The Scottish Himalayan Expedition
by W.H. Murray, 1951

 

 

 

Served

Shelter

Estimated Need

Current Inventory

Unmet/Need Gap
Individuals Emergency

1,000

222

778
Transitional Housing

2,444

58

2,386
Permanent Supportive Housing

631

56

575
Total

4,075

336

3,739
         
Persons in Families with Children Emergency

775

187

588
Transitional Housing

2,995

287

2,708
Permanent Supportive Housing

370

53

317
Total

4,140

527

3,613

These aggregate numbers are consistent with the demonstrated shortage of affordable housing in Sonoma County, and show that we are only serving—in Sonoma County—less than 10% of the individual needs and only about 12% of the persons in families. In addition—and notwithstanding these "great" economic times, the problem of homelessness is growing. According to a 1998 study of 30 major cities by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, emergency shelter requests increased by 11% and needed shelter for families increased by 15%.

These statistics corroborate COTS’ experience. Because of lack of space, during this past year we had to turn away up to 50 families in a given month at the Center for Homeless Children and Their Families. We also did not have enough beds for adults seeking shelter at the Winter Shelter for Homeless Adults, which is especially disturbing given the weather conditions to which this shelter is a response. There is almost always a waiting list for Shared Housing. And the Ellwood Opportunity Center has experienced a growth in demand for services of about 10% during the past year.

CURRENT EFFORT

Notwithstanding the unmet needs mentioned above, COTS is proud to assert that we have accomplished a great deal on behalf of Petaluma’s homeless citizens. Currently our efforts to provide assistance to homeless persons are as follows:

Center for Homeless Children and Their Families: COTS’ 35 bed emergency shelter, at 1500B Petaluma Blvd. South, serves about 150 families (about 300 children plus parents) annually.

Church/Synagogue Shelter Program: 20 local congregations participate in the shelter program by providing 10 extra sleeping spaces (and at times as many as 13 spaces), plus meals and social support, during the school year.

Children’s Haven: At the COTS Center for Homeless Children and Their Families, a Haven is provided that offers comprehensive services to the shelter children and families, including licensed day care, assessment, counseling, abuse prevention, and parenting training.

Life Skills Training: Adult clients in all programs get assistance with housing, budgeting, parenting, job search, domestic violence, self-esteem, and more. Some COTS programs provide mandatory drug/alcohol testing and mandatory savings plans.

Ellwood Opportunity Center: The Ellwood Opportunity Center provides day services to adults, including assistance getting employment and training, personal hygiene resources, housing referrals and assistance, counseling, substance abuse help, and health care. Clients must be members, and "pay" for their membership by providing at least two hours of community service each week, thus giving back to the community.

Winter Shelter for Homeless Adults: COTS provides up to 45 sleeping spaces from November through March. Membership in the Ellwood Opportunity Center is necessary to use this facility.

Shared Housing: This program prevents homelessness by providing housing for low-income families, with comprehensive supportive services. COTS presently has nine such houses (around 30 family units, totaling about 65 beds).

Advocacy: COTS supports local and regional efforts to develop additional low-cost housing, including shared housing, cottage housing, SROs and apartments.

The following portrays our present capacity in terms of bednights and persons served per day. (actual numbers served are a bit lower, because of seasonal fluctuations, occasional vacancies as people move on and slight delays in filling the space they have vacated):

Location

BedNights

Persons/Day
Center for Children and Their Families*

12,776

35
Church/Synagogue Shelter Program*

2,700

10
Shared Housing*

23,725

65
Winter Shelter**

6,000

40

TOTAL

45,200

 150

*Open 12 Months; **Open 5 Months

REQUIRED EFFORT-NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

"My life is devoted to the future."

--Carolyn Goodman

There will always be a need to provide basic life services for unfortunate and disadvantaged people who fall on hard times, and COTS has risen to this challenge on behalf of our community by providing a "safety net"—but not a "hammock"--for our homeless neighbors. Petaluma’s outstanding efforts, many people do not have the shelter and support that common decency requires. Although we cannot meet all of the unmet need for shelter, services and housing, we can do better. Thus, COTS plans to undertake the following four new Strategic Directions during the next several years:

  1. Establish a Year-Round Residential Transitional/Multiservice Center for homeless adults.
  2. "In a nation as rich as ours, the very idea of an ‘alm’s house,’ deeply offends me. COTS should never be part of the establishment of a permanent "alm’s house."

    --Bill Bryant

    Rationale:

    For over seven years, COTS has offered families a single place where they can have both shelter and the support they need to get back under a roof of their own. With this background, and the experience we have gained running the Opportunity Center and the Winter Shelter for Homeless Adults, we now are ready to extend this safety net to homeless adults without children. Put simply, we have seen that a Winter Shelter is not enough to help most people to really transform their lives, and we seen that a year-round shelter and supportive services really can get people back on their feet.

    Project Description:

    The Multiservice Center will offer support services and shelter year-round. It will be a temporary, transitional home with 50 or more beds, and where a person can be treated with dignity and receive encouragement while they work toward self-sufficiency. It will be a place that promotes and provides programs for upward transition to jobs and permanent housing for homeless adults.

    It is contemplated that the functions of the Ellwood Opportunity Center and the Winter Shelter will be folded into the new Year-Round Residential Transitional/Multiservice Center. All of the outstanding support and social work of Ellwood Opportunity Center will continue and expand as needed.

    Project Funding:

    It appears that the City of Petaluma will donate the land for the Multiservice Center. Due to the good efforts by the City of Petaluma officials, an acceptable location has been found on City-owned property at the Corporation Yard, off of Hopper Street. This location is ideally located. It is close to the City center and yet not in any residential neighborhood where it could cause concern. While this location also is the present site of the City’s sewage treatment plant, that should only be temporary as the City will be establishing a new sewage treatment plant in the near future.

    The City of Petaluma has also allocated $750,000 of Redevelopment funds for the construction costs of the new facility, and has budgeted for operating costs for the Multiservice Center. These funds could also be used to leverage other potential funds for this purpose, and COTS will utilize aggressive fund-raising efforts, from all sectors, to fund any needed operating subsidy.

    Project Schedule:

    Because of the uncertainties caused by the replacement of the City’s sewage treatment plant, it is difficult to predict when construction of this facility could begin. Our wish is to have the Multiservice Center operating as soon as is reasonably possible, with a target date of April 2002, when the Winter Shelter closes down for that season.

  3. Help expand the availability of low cost housing.
Rationale:

As noted above, there simply is not enough housing for homeless people to move into, and so there are missing "rungs" on the "ladder" to self-sufficiency. Hence, COTS will be a leader in helping to provide the missing "higher rungs on the ladder" to enable homeless people to move initially into transitional housing and eventually into permanent housing.

Project Description:

COTS is not a developer; our strength and experience is in providing shelter and supportive services. Nonetheless, our clients are desperate for housing, so that they can have a place to progress to when they are ready to leave our shelters. Therefore, COTS will support the effort to bring together the various concerned groups and organize action plans to expand the availability of affordable housing. We will do this by helping our community to achieve the following:

Project Funding:

For Shared Housing, COTS will ask local businesses and social organizations to "Adopt-A-House" to provide for staffing, capital improvements, rent subsidies, and maintenance costs.

For development and construction, COTS will seek to continue its partnership with Burbank Housing, with funding through the usual sources (including government assistance and tax credits) for such projects.

Project Schedule:

This effort will be started late summer of 1999 with a meeting with several of the area’s industrial CEOs. (It is believed that our major industrial employers will be interested from not only a philantrophic perspective, but also because of their serious concern about their ability to attract workers due to the high cost of housing in our area). The effort to develop low-cost housing will be on going at least through the year 2003.

  1. Provide a Respite Program for homeless persons.
  2. Rationale:

Some homeless adults are very sick or suffer from life threatening illnesses. Homeless people simply can not access the level of health care that the sheltered can and without shelter, have an extremely difficult time recovering from simple illnesses, let alone the more serious diseases that afflict them. These conditions are obviously exacerbated as a direct result of lack of shelter, continued exposure to the elements and the inability to lie down and rest.

Project Description:

COTS will establish a Respite Program, initially at the Ellwood Opportunity Center and eventually at the new Residential Transitional Center, to provide medical referral services and shelter for sick and injured homeless adults. COTS will not provide medical care. COTS Respite Program will, when medically indicated, provide day and night, year-round shelter for sick homeless people.

In addition to providing a Respite Program, COTS will ensure that the appropriate COTS staff receives at least basic First Aid and CPR training, and where applicable advanced First Aid and CPR training.

Project Funding:

COTS will seek support for this effort from congregations, foundations and government agencies.

Project Schedule:

This effort will commence as soon as possible.

  1. Provide supportive programs for mentally ill homeless persons.
Rationale:

When the State Government set deinstitutionalization as a policy and moved to scale way back the scope of state psychiatric centers, the state’s cost savings didn’t even come close to being shifted to community-based mental health clinics. Due to the lack of adequate funding, many former state mental patients simply were transferred from the back-wards to the back-alleys or back-jail cells. Many former inpatients became homeless persons. And today, many person who would have received treatment and shelter because of their mental disability are scorned as homeless and left to the streets.

Many of the homeless persons whose bizarre behavior frightens too many of our citizens are indeed mentally ill. Recent studies indicate that as many as two-thirds of adult homeless persons are suffering from some sort of mental illness. Some are provided some services in the County sponsored system—but many more exist outside any system, wandering aimlessly. Many of them are of danger to themselves. A few are a danger to others. Most of the mentally ill homeless persons are severely exploited and ostracized. Way too many wind up in jail where their illness also goes without proper treatment. Fortunately, State funds and County resources apparently are going to be committed to addressing the needs of the mentally ill who most often engage in egregious criminal behavior, some of whom are homeless, but this will not solve the problem for most mentally ill homeless people.

Project Description:

COTS will establish Outreach and Referral Services for mentally ill homeless individuals, initially based at the Ellwood Opportunity Center and eventually at the Residential Transitional/Multiservice Center. COTS wants to help all homeless mentally ill people in our community to have access to the best mental health care that is available to them. COTS will enter into collaborative agreements with organizations such as the Community Support Network (CSN) to provide such services.

Project Funding:

COTS will seek funding for this effort from foundations and government agencies.

Project Schedule:

This effort will commence as soon as possible and will continue to expand if funding permits.

SUMMARY of NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

The following table summarizes COTS’ new Strategic Directions:

New Strategic Direction Effort 1999 2000

2001-
2002

2003

O
Residential
Transitional
Center
  • Create Action Plan
  • Obtain Approvals
  • Commence Action
  • Complete

12/99

 

03/00

06/00

 

11/01

04/02

 

  

TBD

 
Low Cost Housing
  • Create Action Plan
  • Obtain Approvals
  • Commence Action
  • Complete
  

01/00

02/00

06/00

  

12/03

TBD
Respite Program
  • Create Action Plan
  • Obtain Approvals 
  • Implement

12/99

02/00

04/00

    

TBD
Outreach Services for the Homeless Mentally Ill
  • Create Action Plan
  • Implement

9//99

10/99

      

TBD

NEXT STEPS

"He (she) who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will never do anything."

--Samual Johnson

Specific "Action Plans" will be established for each of COTS’ new Strategic Directions. Each action plan will provide for the following: