The City of Paso Robles has developed a five-year strategic plan to address homelessness and it's being presented for approval Tuesday night.
After taking input from locals earlier this year, Paso Robles formed a strategic plan to address homelessness and it awaits approval at Tuesday's city council meeting.
As part of their adopted goals and strategic priorities, housing and homelessness are of the six areas the City of Paso Robles is prioritizing during the '23-'24 budget year.
The plan identifies four goals to be achieved in the first year: Hire a city homeless services manager, implement a communication plan to share the strategic plan with the community, conduct a financial needs assessment to determine funding options, and develop a budget.
Peter Huber, a longtime North County resident, is happy to hear a plan is in the works.
"There are wonderful people who because of some kind of situation in life, all of a sudden don't have the funds anymore," Huber said. "There's people that were working with their hands and all of a sudden they were injured… there are many situations like that that people just need the help, they need a hand.”
The creation of a regional homeless services strategic plan will involve partnering with El Camino Homeless Organization (ECHO) and other stakeholders including the County of San Luis Obispo Homeless Manager and Behavioral Health Department.
ECHO will be provided $444,000 over the next two years if they meet certain benchmarks, including maintaining 50 emergency shelter beds.
The city council will vote on whether or not to approve the strategic plan Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the library located on Spring Street.
You can learn more on the City of Paso Robles' Homeless Services webpage.
