City of Palm Springs: Assemblymen Mayes & Garcia Partner with Palm Springs & CVAG to Request Including $10 Million in Homeless Assistance in California State Budget

The City of Palm Springs is pleased to announce that Assemblymen Chad Mayes and
Eduardo Garcia have submitted an official request for $10 million in state funding for
homeless assistance to be included in the California state budget on behalf of the
Coachella Valley Association of Governments, (CVAG), the City of Palm Springs and
the broader Coachella Valley. Mayes and Garcia submitted a letter in support to Governor
Gavin Newsom last week, which reinforced the need for the funding.

The issue is at a crisis level in every community across the state, particularly Palm Springs

and the west end of the valley. In an effort to combat the problem, Mayor pro tem Geoff

Kors and Councilmember Christy Holstege, who serve on the City’s Homelessness and

Affordable Housing Subcommittee, have frequently reached out to Mayes in order to

address ways to obtain state funding for the western end of the valley. These conversations

led Mayes to take the lead and partner with Garcia, who then worked together with Palm

Springs leaders to prioritize several specific projects to take to the Governor.

The request proposes that CVAG distribute $10 million in funds with a formula of 70%

going towards projects in the Western Coachella Valley and 30% allocated towards existing

homeless services in the broader Coachella Valley.

Areas the requested funds would address include:

•  Property Acquisition: CVAG is ready to work with the Riverside County Housing

Authority to purchase properties to utilize Crisis Stabilization Housing or Rapid

Rehousing. Currently, the CVAG Housing First Program is at capacity in crisis

stabilization beds. The purchase of housing will provide the most cost effective

additional units to house those still unsheltered. So far, more than 200 homeless

people have received housing through the program.

•  Hotel/Motel Renovations: Palm Springs is currently doing an inventory of unused

hotel/motel space that could be acquired and renovated for the purposes of serving

homeless or at-risk individuals or families, in turn increasing the amount of crisis

stabilization housing available. While CVAG leases these units, purchasing through

the Housing Authority that already owns and operates housing would solidify longterm housing availability.

•  Navigation Center: These will take the place of the old homeless shelter model.

While the center would still have some emergency shelter beds, the focus is to

utilize the centers for intake into Housing First programs with a full array of wraparound services. Funding is needed to help with first-year operational costs, land

acquisitions, as well as design and planning.

•  Support for existing homeless services to provide food, clothing, and other basic

necessities for the disadvantaged in the broader Coachella Valley.

“There is strong support for this kind of funding to address root causes of homelessness,”

said Kors and Holstege, “The City Council thanks Assemblymen Mayes and Garcia for their

willingness to lead the effort to partner with Palm Springs to combat our growing homeless

challenges and help us expand housing and services for those who need it most."