Homeless people who live in out-of-sight encampments in Vista, Calif., may soon find new homes thanks to a $1.8 million state grant.
The Vista City Council this month accepted a $1.8 million Encampment Resolution Grant from the state Interagency Council on Homelessness to create a new outreach team and fund rental assistance or other housing options for people living in encampments in the Buena Vista Watershed area off Hacienda Drive, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.
Additional funding will be used to continue making improvements to the watershed area as a way of discouraging other homeless people from using the area for encampments, says Vista Housing Program Manager Sylvia Daniels.
"We do a lot of cleanups at those sites, but due to its nature and the size of it, and the sensitivity of the wildlife in the watershed, we are limited," she says. "So we thought this would be a great area for the project."
The city already has hauled trash out of the area and created a trail system with entry points alongside Hacienda Drive.
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.