PD Editorial: A cautionary tale for homeless programs at the Palms Inn

Advocates for homeless people once praised Santa Rosa’s converted Palms Inn as an innovative way to provide housing and services. Today, however, it has become a model of a different sort. The Palms is a cautionary tale of what happens if big plans for hotel renovation into housing for homeless people don’t include a stable long-term funding stream for maintenance and operations.

The Palms became housing for homeless people six years ago. The former hotel was converted into a campus with 104 units. Wraparound social services are available to help residents get back on their feet and hopefully graduate someday into other housing, thereby opening a slot for the next resident.

It has largely succeeded in that mission, helping many of the county’s more than 2,700 homeless residents. But problems have emerged, too. A two-month investigation by The Press Democrat found that after six years of wear and tear, the Palms is suffering. Mold and insects infest units. Plumbing is in disrepair. Residents report that crime and drug dealing are common on the campus. And last year four people died of overdoses, some not discovered for days.

Things have gotten so bad that several units are no longer being rented, and the Sonoma County Housing Authority has paused approving new leases.

Similar challenges occurred at the former Gold Coin Motel, which also had been converted into housing for the formerly homeless. Two years after it opened, only 18 people lived in a handful of units while most of the facility was rundown. Plans for a 54-unit transitional housing facility with wraparound services had been postponed.

It’s easy to get lost in the weeds when figuring out who is responsible for the mess at the Palms. Everyone — the owner, the operators and the county — points fingers. What they seem to agree on, though, is that the culprit is a lack of resources.

Planning for shelters and transitional housing must account for maintenance and operations, just like homebuyers must factor in the ongoing cost of upkeep before they purchase. The residents of these facilities pay some rent, much of it coming from housing vouchers, but the income stream isn’t enough for a building that has underlying health and safety concerns. It also doesn’t cover the costs of the wraparound services and security.

Meanwhile, the state is pressing forward with Project Homekey, which saw $3.6 billion allocated during the pandemic to buy hotels and turn them into housing for homeless residents. At least five Project Homekey projects are in Sonoma County.

Conversions remain a promising approach. Turning an underutilized motel or other building into housing is cheaper than acquiring land and building new. It also might rejuvenate a site that is a blight on a neighborhood. But that’s just the start.

State and local officials as well as nonprofits that pursue these projects should learn from the Palms and Gold Coin. State officials insist that they will adequately fund sites, but California doesn’t have a great record of sticking to those sorts of commitments.

There is a humanitarian crisis underway on California’s streets and in its parks and open spaces. Help is needed, but moving homeless Californians into housing isn’t a one-time expense.

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