Homeless Committee Welcomes New Chairs, Sets Ambitious 2024 Agenda

The Bay Area Council’s Homelessness Committee yesterday (Dec. 5) introduced new co-chairs and adopted an ambitious agenda to tackle unsheltered homelessness and substance abuse. More specifically, the committee resolved to continue working with Senator Josh Becker to reintroduce SB 634, legislation to streamline modular, quickly scalable non-congregate housing to take advantage of the estimated 45,000 unused housing vouchers across California, and to reform state laws that prohibit state funding and incentives from supporting Treatment Assisted Sober Living facilities to help address the opioid epidemic.

The committee also resolved to monitor developments at the U.S. Supreme Court and help prepare local governments for a post-Martin v. Boise world if the Court takes up Johnson v. Grants Pass. Both cases stymied local efforts to get unhoused residents into shelters and other housing. The Council submitted an amicus brief in Johnson v. Grants Pass urging the Supreme Court to take up the case and overturn it.

The discussion was led by new committee co-Chairs Elizabeth Funk and Tom Wolf. Funk is the Founder and CEO of DignityMoves, whose innovative opportunity housing model has drastically reduced the cost of providing high-quality, non-congregate housing for homeless Californians. Wolf is a recovery advocate for the Salvation Army, advancing policies to expand drug treatment alternatives for Californians struggling with substance abuse.

The Council thanks our outgoing co-Chairs Tomiquia Moss, formerly of AllHome and recently appointed by Gov. Newsom to Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency and Kunal Modi of McKinsey, for their contributions in helping establish the Council as a trusted voice on homelessness policy. To engage with the Bay Area Council Homelessness Committee, please contact Senior Vice President Adrian Covert.