Malibu’s homeless outreach team has just released data following its first year in action, and numbers prove efforts have been a success so far.
The Malibu Task Force on Homelessness (MTFH) has just completed its first year of funding the city’s first two full-time outreach workers to the homeless population (officially estimated to be about 180). A report released by The People Concern, the Santa Monica nonprofit organization that employs the outreach team, shows they made significant progress.
By the end of September, the team had moved 24 homeless individuals off the streets of Malibu, with 11 successfully moved into permanent housing and 13 in interim housing.
“These excellent results are great news for the community,” said Jay Scott, chair of the MTFH. “With newly expanded support services now up to full speed, we look forward to The People Concern finding housing for even more homeless people this coming year.”
The organization expects new housing opportunities for Malibu’s homeless to continue, and announced that 10 additional outreach team clients now have housing vouchers (meaning they’ve been accepted into a federal government program that provides financial assistance to the very low-income and the disabled towards housing in the private market).
“Those with vouchers are actively looking for apartments with help from The People Concern’s new, full-time housing locator,” according to MTFH, and “12 additional program participants have been approved for upcoming vouchers.”
In their first year, the Malibu outreach team, consisting of Alexander Gittinger and Alexandra Michel (sometimes called “the two Alexes”), made contact with 184 homeless individuals in all parts of Malibu, including streets, beaches, encampments, shopping areas and public spaces. Of these, 68 enrolled in ongoing services, with housing and goal plans now in place, and 76 were considered “engaged”—at various stages of accepting services.
In addition, 30 individuals were linked to additional intensive, street-based services from The People Concern and Venice Family Clinic’s interdisciplinary teams, which include physicians, psychiatrists, mental health professionals and substance abuse experts.
“Our mission as an agency has always been to help our most vulnerable neighbors rebuild their lives,” said John Maceri, executive director of The People Concern. “Our partnership with Malibu has yielded significant results.” Maceri also spoke about these results at the Malibu City Council meeting on Nov. 13.