Despite having a reputation for being unyielding toward homeless, the Costa Mesa City Council voted 4-0 to commit general fund dollars to help build 50 permanent housing units for the homeless. The “several hundred thousand” dollars that the City will contribute will be supplemented by state and federal dollars.
The decision to support the long-term housing units was jus tone of the changes the city council approved. Other measures seen as anti-homeless were adjusted – such as the city’s anti-camping laws and a law that banned the storage of private property on public land. Homeless advocates say that those laws criminalize the homeless and are designed to drive homeless into other communities.
Earlier this year, the OC Supervisors decided to build a permanent homeless shelter in Fullerton. Combined with the Costa Mesa decision, some describe the developments as a tipping point in efforts to end homelessness.
Mercy House Living Quarters, the non-profit that currently operates two temporary housing centers for homeless, will manage the housing units.
Read the full story at the Voice of OC.