By Julia Foote
Fremont has proposed building a housing navigation center to help address the city’s homeless crisis. Between 2017 and 2019 the homeless population in Fremont increased by 27%. Of the 608 homeless individuals counted in Fremont this year, 485 are without shelter. The housing navigation center will provide a clean, safe, calm and flexible environment that allows homeless people to rebuild their lives and focus on finding stable permanent housing.
The Sierra Club supports a homeless navigation center in Fremont and encourages members and supporters in Fremont to vocalize their support at three upcoming community workshops.
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Workshop 1: Wednesday, August 14th, 5:30 - 8:30 PM, at Harbor Light Church, 4760 Thornton Ave., Fremont (RSVP Here!)
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Workshop 2: Saturday, August 24th, 10 AM - 1 PM, at Harbor Light Church, 4760 Thornton Ave., Fremont (RSVP Here!)
- Workshop 3: Monday, August 26th, 5 - 8 PM, at Fremont Teen Center, 39770 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont (RSVP Here!)
The workshops are open to the public and will include information about what a navigation center is and the role navigation centers play in addressing homelessness. City staff will be available to answer questions and receive feedback from the public, which will be shared with the Fremont City Council at a meeting in September (date TBD).
Here are some talking points that highlight our position. Feel free to use them to share your support for the homeless navigation center with city staff at the workshops:
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Housing homeless residents in Fremont is both a social justice and environmental justice issue. A navigation center is an important tool to address the environmental, public health, and safety issues that homelessness presents.
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It is important that Fremont select a site for the navigation center by September 2019 to ensure that dedicated funding gets used.
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Fremont should select a navigation center site with the closest proximity to the services and transportation resources needed by the users.
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Fremont should identify and incorporate “best practices” at existing navigation centers, like in San Francisco and Berkeley, to make the Fremont Navigation Center a model of success in transitioning our homeless residents into permanent housing.
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Fremont should conduct outreach and education efforts throughout the community about the benefits of programs that house homeless people.
If you can’t attend these workshops in person, Fremont residents are encouraged to email or call their city representatives to share their support for the navigation center and the principles laid out above:
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Mayor Lily Mei: 510-284-4011 / lmei@fremont.gov
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Vice Mayor Raj Salwan: 510-284-4082 / rsalwan@fremont.gov
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Councilmember Vinnie Bacon (At Large): 510-284-4084 / vbacon@fremont.gov
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Councilmember Teresa Keng (District 1): 510-284-4012 / tkeng@fremont.gov
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Councilmember Rick Jones (District 2): 510-284-4083 / councilmemberjones@fremont.gov
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Councilmember Jenny Kassan (District 3): 510-284-4018 / jkassan@fremont.gov
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Councilmember Yang Shao (District 4): 510-284-4019 / yshao@fremont.gov
The Sierra Club believes affordable housing is a human right, and that all neighborhoods should be open to people of all income levels and backgrounds. In working to expand housing and economic opportunities we recognize our obligation to address past and ongoing inequity in the communities most damaged by it. For example, while the people who experience homelessness are not a monolithic group, African Americans are three to four times more likely to experience homelessness than other Americans due to structural racism in the United States, particularly in housing.
Why is homelessness an issue that an environmental organization like the Sierra Club cares about? The answer is rooted in the core principle of environmental justice: that everyone deserves to live in a healthy and sustainable environment. Improving the public health and well-being of all communities also goes hand in hand with tackling the climate crisis. Our resilience to the threat of climate change begins with our social, cultural, and economic resilience, which depends upon inclusive and fair communities. Read more about the Sierra Club SF Bay Chapter’s work in Environmental Justice here, and learn how to get involved in the work of our Environmental Justice Team here.
It’s also important to note that the Bay Area’s homeless crisis is a direct result of our housing crisis. The Sierra Club supports affordable housing policies that protect existing neighborhoods and new residents from unreasonable economic and physical disruption. We also support compact infill development near transit and other services. Read more about our Housing and Development policy here.
Photo: Nina Strehl via unsplash