Russian River community relieved, disappointed as homeless center plan falls

Weeks of sometimes angry debate over where to put a homeless service center in the town of Guerneville came to an abrupt end this week, as deep rifts in the Russian River community made clear that consensus on an acceptable site was beyond reach.

A mixture of relief and disappointment, cynicism and gratitude were the result, as opponents of a recent proposal to develop a new facility on Armstrong Woods Road acknowledged victory and those seeking resolution to an eight-year quest for a service center and shelter site resigned themselves to the status quo.

“Business as usual,” is the way one online commentator assessed the news that 5th District Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins had suspended the site search and pulled the plug on the county's consideration of the Armstrong Woods Road site.

“Relieved” summed up the reaction at nearby Guerneville School, where parents and staffers vigorously fought the plan to build a winter shelter and service facility less than a half-mile from the K-8 school.

“It's hard because of the complexity of the issue,” Guerneville School District Superintendent Dana Pedersen said. “Everyone wants to support the unhoused, so there's nothing to celebrate because the problems are still there. But I have had parents and community members and staff members reach out to me, thanking me and expressing they were relieved.”

For county officials, service providers and Hopkins herself, however, the decision means shifting toward a more creative, long-term strategy that the freshman supervisor said had been absent in the rush to weigh the option to buy the 9-acre Loundagin ranch. It came on the market last winter just weeks after the county let go of what had been the favored site, George's Hideaway off Highway 116, because of spiraling costs.

Hopkins said now that a comprehensive service center and shelter facility in the lower river area may or may not be the right way to reduce the disproportionately high homeless population in the region, which had more unsheltered people in the 2016 countywide homeless census than any other population center but Santa Rosa. The county still has $1.2 million set aside for the purchase and development of a service center.

But for the moment, it makes more sense to engage in some long-term planning than to plunk down substantial funding on real estate - Loundagin ranch was listed at $995,000 - without a defined plan in place, Hopkins said.

“You buy a piece of property,” she said, “and then what? I just want to make sure we have a long-term, financially viable strategy.”

Hopkins assumed her post in January, years after the county and community stakeholders established the criteria that led them to the defunct George's Hideaway site and the goal of an integrated center where those experiencing homelessness could find mental health, addiction, housing, employment and other types of assistance designed to help them break the cycle of homelessness. In more recent times, the nonprofit West County Health Centers determined, in partnership with the county, that moving its homeless health clinic, which serves 172 patients, from downtown to the same site would help integrate service delivery in keeping with practices shown to produce the best outcomes.

But when the George's site fell through and West County Health Centers secured an option to buy the Armstrong Woods Road property, a clock was set ticking that exacerbated tensions in the divided community, where many already objected to hosting a homeless facility at all.

Hopkins said the clear division, evident since the ranch site proposal came to light, distilled the challenge of choosing a site.

She said she was moved, too, by a county funding discussion early this week that starkly highlighted the scarcity of available resources even for high-priority homeless services.

But Hopkins said her engagement with county department leaders as she searched for the way forward also brought to her attention county initiatives already in the works that could allow for both expanded and more targeted provision of mental health, addiction and other critical services in the Guerneville area even without a new facility developed for their delivery.

Among other possibilities, she and county officials pointed to:

A new crisis stabilization center that the county opened in west Santa Rosa last year that by year's end will house inpatient mental health services, addiction and detox services;

High hopes for a $16 million federal grant that would nearly triple county mental health staffing available for direct outreach in homeless communities;

A move toward decentralization of Health and Human Services help that's historically been available only in Santa Rosa;

An expansion into the lower river region of the mobile support team model through which county mental health personnel respond with law enforcement to situations in which mental health issues are apparent.

Sheriff's Capt. Mark Essick said trained mental health professionals are extremely helpful because they have the expertise to help assess subjects whose status is in question, help de-escalate tense situations and have access to confidential health records that may streamline the process.

Essick and county Mental Health Director Mike Kennedy, Margaret Van Vliet, executive director of the Community Development Commission, and Jed Heibel, homeless services program manager for West County Health Centers, said their disappointment in the failure of the Loundagin ranch proposal is muted by renewed energy toward maximizing and better coordinating available resources.

“While this is a setback,” said Heibel, “I am optimistic that it gives us a chance to just stop and say, ‘Let's really look at how do we leverage these systems to make the best use of these dollars to best serve the interests of the community at large and improve the health of those people that are without housing.”

Editor's Note: Earlier versions of this story incorrectly identified Loundagin Ranch, based on information provided by the county.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.