DignityMoves village provides temporary housing to homeless individuals in downtown Santa Barbara
A DignityMoves village is a small community of previously unsheltered people living in small pre-built houses. This one is in downtown Santa Barbara and represents an effort to get homeless people off the streets and into temporary housing.
DignityMoves has helped homeless individuals to get off local streets and into temporary housing.
They live in a 34-room village in downtown Santa Barbara.
DignityMoves started construction on the community in February 2022 and completed it in less than six months. Completed in a partnership with Santa Barbara County and Good Samaritan Shelters, the DignityMoves village, which consists of small pre-built houses, has been fully occupied since its inception. There’s a waiting list of more than 100, and DignityMoves says the village is being embraced by neighbors and local businesses.
“The project in downtown Santa Barbara prioritizes people sleeping and living in the immediate area,” Elizabeth Funk, founder and CEO of DignityMoves, told the News-Press.
“Neighbors will tell you they notice a visible difference,” Ms. Funk said. “There are no more people sleeping on the stairs in front of the art museum. The project gets them off the streets and gets them out of survival mode. It is a measurable and visible impact.
“Most people offered a bed in a group shelter won’t go,” she said. “Nobody has turned this down. It gives us a chance to help them resolve underlying issues.”
The housing is designed to be temporary while the individuals make steps to become self-sufficient again.
“It really takes awhile to get into permanent housing,” Ms. Funk said. “You have to have legal identification ready.
“This is an alternative to encampments or group shelters,” she said. “It’s pet friendly.
“Tenants work with a case manager on the next steps for them. It’s an interim stage,” said Ms. Funk. “This is community living.
“Imagine a college dorm room: 64 square feet for individuals; 94 square feet for couples,” she said. “Rooms include: a bed, a desk, a window and heating and air conditioning, with high ceilings. There is a shared laundry, bathroom, dining, kitchen, computer lab and outdoor deck.
“Volunteers can ‘adopt a room’ and bring bedding, artwork and a welcome basket,” said Ms. Funk.
On Jan. 25, DignityMoves announced the launch of DignityNOW Santa Barbara County, an initiative to create sufficient interim housing for everyone experiencing unsheltered homelessness across Santa Barbara County.
The 2018 Santa Barbara County Community Action Plan to End Homelessness identified the need for an additional 563 interim shelter beds across the county. Three years later, the 2021 status report showed progress towards that goal, but 432 beds are still needed. Around that time, Santa Barbara County began talking with DignityMoves about how its innovative model might accelerate progress towards that goal.
“Super kudos to Santa Barbara County for being ambitious and saying that we are just going to do it,” Ms. Funk said. “I’m super impressed to see the county say ‘let’s just do the whole thing.’”
The next DignityNow community in Santa Maria is already under way and is slated to be completed by August. Hope Village will have 94 rooms including 11 transitional youth, and 30 will be designated for the hospital system. Ten of those 30 rooms will have private bathrooms. More communities are coming, but locations have not yet been announced.
“The project is paid two-thirds by philanthropy and one-third by the county for the construction,” Ms. Funk said. “The units are constructed on county or privately owned land so we can set up on vacant parking lots on an interim basis, so we don’t have to purchase land.”
She said DignityMoves can build to FEMA/emergency building codes, which isn’t daunting for philanthropists who want to help.
“The ongoing support of services is supported by the county,” Ms. Funk said. “For the project in Santa Maria, one of the significant donors will be Dignity Health.
“The cost of homelessness is about $60,000 per person per year. Hospitals have an incentive to be a part of that solution because about half of the cost of homelessness is medical related. Solving the homelessness issue is a lot less expensive than not solving it.”
The News-Press asked Ms. Funk about those who are homeless by choice and how to keep tenants from abusing the system.
“I think it is a very small percentage,” she said. “They prefer it over a group shelter and over the loss of independence. They prefer it over sleeping next to a stranger on a cot.
“When people first become homeless, they usually don’t have a drug or mental health problem. It’s the trauma of living on the streets for so long that leads to these issues,” Ms. Funk said.
“The longer they are on the streets, the less likely they will return to self sufficiency,” she said.
Residents in a DignityMoves village are required to work with a case manager on identifying their life goals.
“People don’t get to stay forever,” she said. “You have a limited period of time, until you get transferred somewhere where there are less benefits. Time limits range between six months to two years.
“I think the biggest thing is people are always worried about safety,” Ms. Funk said. “Would you rather that person be in a safe bed with meals, case managers, and 24/7 staffing or out on the street hungry and desperate?
“Our 24/7 staff is trained in conflict de-escalation and has a close relationship with the police. These are staff that know the tenants. Some locations have actual security, depending on location.”
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
