SANTA ANA, CA—According to research conducted by the University of California, Irvine, best practices implemented at the Orchard, a permanent supportive-housing project here, could save Orange County $42 million per year. The first-ever countywide study on the cost of homelessness may have long-lasting implications in how homelessness is addressed.

The Orchard, which is the City of Santa Ana's largest single investment in housing for the homeless, is set to become a regional model. The Orchard provides PSH utilizing a Housing First model, which assists people experiencing homelessness in finding and maintaining housing quickly, for 71 individuals and families experiencing chronic homelessness. The $18-million project was developed by Community Development Partners with services provided by Mercy House.

We spoke with Kyle Paine, president of CDP, about best practices for these types of projects and how they save municipalities significant money.

GlobeSt.com: What are best practices for supportive-housing projects?

Paine: From our recent experience working on projects like this, I would say it's really communication and coordination among property manager, owner and service provider. Wraparound services for these residents are critical, as is making sure the service providers and property manager are working toward Housing First policies. We try to keep residents in housing before resorting to evicting. It's important to figure out how to solve problems before some of the bigger issues come up.

To that end, there are weekly meetings between the on-site property management and the service managers to discuss problems and potential issues. It's key to address them now rather than waiting. One of the biggest components to best practices is a willingness for the service provider to work with residents on anything they need; the goal is getting people in housing first and then working on all the other issues they may have. They can't find stable work or be mentally stable if they don't have housing. We're not requiring sobriety to house them; they access these services at will and then figure out how to solve the issues. It's putting residents first and getting them off the streets.

Another component is what's provided in the on-site services. The Orchard has a commercial kitchen to provide free meals to residents. In addition to providing rental assistance, they also have access to this commercial kitchen and food service. So, we give people a house and a place to live, and they still have all the necessities they need. We ask, “What should we add and build to keep residents stable?” We also like to add in other amenities above and beyond the critical ones, so we have a community garden, with training opportunities to learn how to cook and serve food grown in the garden. This gives them long-term stability, so they come in and end up better than where they started. Permanent supportive housing is a relatively new concept, but people realize you need long-term housing along with services.

GlobeSt.com: How do these practices save municipalities money?

Paine: From a very high-level aspect, people in these projects are not living at the local civic center and are not having to go into the hospital frequently because they're unstable on their meds. Without permanent supportive housing, they're forced to utilize the services that have to be provided to them through public services. Having someone in permanent supportive housing with services provided on site reduces all that; they're not utilizing the system nearly as much, especially on the healthcare side if they were living on the streets. Both urgent care and law enforcement will see huge savings in resources.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the Orchard?

Paine: This project was the result of a big partnership with the City of Santa Ana and is the largest single investment in supportive housing—in fact, the largest project of its type—in Orange County, with the community kitchen and garden component. It's amazing to see the City getting in and pushing, getting behind this project and helping the most vulnerable population in the county. To do this model, you really need the support of the city, good support, and the provider on development team needs to be in it for the long run. The City is ecstatic and is pushing us to get the word out. Dozens of individuals living outside the Santa Ana Civic Center are now being helped by non-profits, so they're no longer a drain on the City's resources. It's the best viable solution to solve the issue of homelessness.

We spoke with Kyle Paine, president of CDP, about best practices for these types of projects and how they save municipalities significant money.

GlobeSt.com: What are best practices for supportive-housing projects?

GlobeSt.com: How do these practices save municipalities money?

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the Orchard?

Instant Insights /

These Best Practices Save Could Municipalities Millions

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