Coachella Valley cities continue work to reduce homelessness
Shay Lawson
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Public officials across the Coachella Valley are continuing work to reduce homelessness and provide affordable housing options for those in need.
On Friday, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office announcing California’s State Action for Facilitation on Encampments (SAFE) Task Force.
Within the next 30 days, Newsom’s office said the goal is to “aggressively prioritize and deploy California’s comprehensive network of services to quickly remove encampments on state rights-of-way and help connect people with wrap-around supportive services and shelter.”
The Governor’s office provided numbers from some of California’s largest communities reporting reduced homelessness, with Riverside County CoC seeing -19% unsheltered homelessness.
Palm Springs Mayor Ron deHarte said the highly anticipated Aloe Palm Canyon, located at 1479 N. Palm Canyon Drive, will offer affordable housing options for adults 55 and older with incomes ranging from 0% to 80% Area Median Income (AMI).
“This is one more property that brings housing to 71 different families,” deHarte said. “It’s been a concentrated effort by the city of Palm Springs to create these opportunities to create affordable housing.”
The housing project is set to open in September.
“This project broke ground in October 2023,” deHarte said. “In less than 2 years, this projects doors are going to open in just a couple of weeks.”
The Cathedral City Police Department’s Homeless Liaison Program is also continuing to take steps toward homeless outreach.
The city said Officer Mark Novy and Officer Phillip Garcia have redefined what it means to serve and protect citing that the program successfully helped 14 individuals transition from homelessness to permanent housing, last month alone.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage.