Neighbors of a proposed homeless navigation center on South Main Street — as well as the rest of the community — will be able to find out more about the project as well as make comments and suggestions at a community meeting.
The City of Manteca hosted meeting takes place Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at the Manteca Transit Center, 220 Moffat Blvd.
Municipal staff and consultants will share conceptual plans for the 8 acre site that includes the homeless navigation center, a drop-in homeless shelter, and transitional housing as well as affordable housing similar to Juniper Apartments on Atherton Drive.
The meeting is also available via Zoom available via Zoom at https://bit.ly/3Chnms7. Only the presentation portion of the meeting will be available. Workshop exercises will only be available in-person. The Zoom meeting ID is 829 2219 5365.
Based on the conceptual design the city posted several weeks ago, the homeless navigation center and shelter will be on the southern part of the site near the B.R. Funsten flooring warehouse. Transitional housing — potentially 80-square-foot free-standing units would be to the east near Carnegie Court.
The apartment style housing to address affordable housing needs potentially for workers with Manteca-area paychecks would go to the north.
The proposed plan calls for two entrances to the site across from a residential neighborhood along South Main Street. There would also be access from Carnegie Court. Besides bordering Main Street the site backs up to industrial park users on its remaining three sides as well as a mini-storage complex.
The city is trying to come up with a solution that will meet legal requirements needed to enforce a variety of laws including restricting where the homeless camp or sleep. In order to do so they must have available beds for the unsheltered to use. If the homeless opt not to take advantage of the “beds” and space is still available in the shelter, police can take the appropriate enforcement actions.
At the same time the city wants to get to the root of the problem as to what is preventing people from getting off the street. In doing so they want to provide robust “one stop” services in a bid to get the homeless so they can get off the streets and either support themselves or get the help they need to address addictions and other issues.
The navigation concept is modeled after an approach San Francisco is taking.
Navigation centers provide a wide variety of serves including shelter, pet care, harm reduction, meals, and social service connections to clients and provide 24/7 staffing.
A staff report in 2019 when the council decided to go the navigation center route noted the San Francisco Navigation Centers “do not accept walk-ins. All individuals and couples who enter have been selected by the SF Homeless Outreach Team or a centralized referral system. Because Navigation Centers operate 24/7, there are no lines outside in the evening, and guests are not exited onto the street in the morning.
“Teamwork and cooperation between the San Francisco Department of Homeless Services, Police, and Public Works Departments is the key to Navigation Center success. The Department of Social Services provides the management of the Navigation Centers, Police provide for the safety of the centers, and the Public Works Department provides for the design and construction of the centers.”
The city last month was awarded $2 million by the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors in the form of pass through state dollars to help buy the site and get worked started on establishing a navigation center.
The South Main site is appraised at $1.6 million and has already passed environment clearance.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
