Homelessness is a housing issue in South Lake Tahoe and beyond

Homelessness isn’t just a South Lake Tahoe issue. It isn’t just an El Dorado county issue. It isn't just a California problem, though the state ranks 49th in housing units per capita.

And it isn't a problem that is going away any time soon and will take a change in the way the problem is currently being addressed to be solved. For every 100 people who are added to the population of California there are only 32 housing units built to house them.

During Wednesday's Tahoe Regional Young Professionals' Town Hall on "Addressing Homelessness," a panel of six experts in the field delved into the local homeless issues.

55 people made it to the Tahoe Beach Retreat to participate in the Town Hall in person and another 207 live-streamed the event.

The Panel: Rabbi Evon Yakar of Temple Bat Yam, Cheyanne Lane, Supportive Services Coordinator for Tahoe Youth & Family Services (TYFS); South Lake Tahoe Police Lt. David Stevenson, a 40-year resident of South Lake Tahoe and 22-year veteran of the department; Dr. Marissa Muscat, a medical doctor who works as a hospitalist for Barton Health and is executive director for the Lake Tahoe Homeless Coalition; Daniel Del Monte, Deputy Director of the Community Services Division for El Dorado County Health and Human Services Agency and Benjamin Henwood, PhD, MSW, a recognized expert in mental health and housing services research whose work connects clinical interventions with social policy.

During the past two winters, the Lake Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless has housed those without a roof over their head in their Tahoe Warm Room. What may surprise some is the number of local people who slept at the shelter. During the big winter of 2016/17 an average of 27 guests spent the night. 87 percent had a local address at least 90 days before their stay. Some have said they thought homeless came from elsewhere so they could use the Warm Room, but this proved to not be the case. In comparison, 71 percent of San Francisco and Sacramento's homeless population had local addresses. South Lake Tahoe is in the average range.

"Don't think people will come to Tahoe just to live in a shelter," said Lane. While adults who are homeless tend to stay in communities they know and feel safe in, youth will come to Tahoe to get away from their communities and families.

The Tahoe Warm Room was created because of homelessness that was already in South Lake Tahoe said Dr. Muscat.

"Why would they want to stay for a bed at night only and a cup of noodles?" she added, dispelling rumors that having a shelter attracts homeless.

Lt. Stevenson spoke of the department's approach to the homeless in the community, but first reminded all that, "It's not illegal to be homeless." They have a trained homeless liaison officer with SLTPD who came to town from Sacramento. They are looking forward to his expertise in the field.

If homeless camping in parks, meadows and other areas are breaking the law, like using cooking fires, they will be cited, but Stevenson said they prefer to counsel them. They find sleeping bags and belongings stashed in bushes and other hiding places, but these are sometimes a person's only belongings and they don't want to throw them away.

When asked if he thought dogs living with homeless owners were abused and mistreated, Stevenson said he doesn't see that. He sees dogs that are happy and feed.

Dr. Henwood, who lives in Los Angeles and helped write the book "Ending Homelessness, Transforming Systems, and Changing Lives," said the system needs to change. He said, that in his city, every time rent is increased by five percent, 2,000 people are made homeless, a sobering fact that shows many are just one paycheck away from not having a home to live in. They have seen a 23 percent increase in homeless people in a very short time.

In Lake Tahoe, 75 percent of the population pays 50 percent or more of their income towards housing according to a report to be released by the Tahoe Prosperity Center.

"There is a whole class of people who are on the verge of homelessness," said Dr. Henwood. "California has 25 percent of the homeless population in the country."

That correlates directly to the high cost of housing in the state.

"Homelessness is at its core a housing issue," Dr. Henwood added. "We need to figure out ways to build enough housing."

Lets flip this system on its head," said Dr. Henwood. "Get people housed first."

Dr. Henwood said people are afraid of goods and services being made available for the homeless as they think it will have a magnet affect, "If you have it, they will come." He said this doesn't hold true for the homeless.

A lack of affordable housing leads to an increase in homelessness. Not only in the example above of Los Angeles, but in Lake Tahoe as well. Henwood said housing subsidies go to people who don't need them and mortgage interest deductions take up the biggest amount of funding, and thus cannot be given to people who need a roof over their head.

Del Monte said the County spends and average of $35,000 a year on a homeless person through medical aid, benefits and agencies that work them. If society could provide homeless with the basic needs of food, water and shelter, the reason they became homeless could be addressed and it would cost a lot less than $35,000 a year and would lead to one less person being homeless.

"Put that money towards housing the homeless and it would one-half of that and would be much more cost effective," Del Monte said.

Opportunity Knocks is am El Dorado County program that came from at broad coalition of service providers, agencies and individuals who deal with the homeless after the lone County homeless camp was shut down. Those that help establish permanent and transitional housing, as well as ancillary services, for the homeless get grants from Housing and Urban Development's Continuum of Care program.

"Permanent supportive housing is the only answer to the issue of homelessness," said Lane. When asked what she'd like to see in the community would be a "one stop shop," where homeless could get the services they needed including mental health, youth advisors, drug and alcohol counselors and social services. As it is now, one must travel to ends of the town, usually on foot, trying to get their basic needs met.

"Step in the shoes of a homeless person and she how you survive," challenged Lane.

Rabbi Yakar said each person could help remove the stigma of homeless in the community. "Be kind, be open, provide money," he said. "This is an investment in the future of our community, a return on investment with the potential to be huge."

For those that missed the Town Hall and would like to watch it, log onto www.tahoeTRYP.org and it will be posted in about two weeks according to event organizers.