Addressing Homelessness in Eugene and Public Works Craig Carnagey Eugene Public Works Parks and Open Space Director 1
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Homeless are negatively impacting parks and public right of ways 3
Affecting the health and usability of public spaces Costs to manage and cleanup after homeless are skyrocketing 4
What is the right balance between protecting public use and having compassion for homeless people? Overview of who the homeless are and reasons they re out there What the City of Eugene has done to address homelessness How Public Works mitigates impacts What other agencies are doing to mitigate impacts Innovative strategies being used or considered Audience Discussion 5
Homeless during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl 6
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Camp Boondoggle 8
Camp Sweeps Summer 2013 9
Six fold increase in illegal camps from 2013 2014 Steady increase in illegal camps since 10
Enter Question Text A. Enter Answer Text 11
Has anyone in this room been homeless or had a friend or family member who has been? A. Yes B. No 0% 0% Homelessness has been occurring for a long time 12
Modern Homelessness 1970s Deinstitutionalization of patients from psychiatric hospitals 1980s less affordable housing, growing unemployment, and budget reductions for government assistance programs 1987 McKinney Vento Homeless Assistance Act 3.5 million likely to experience homelessness in a given year. National Law Center on Poverty 13
Who are today s homeless and why are they out there? 23% of homeless are families with children 14
Causes of Homelessness Poverty lost job, foreclosure, inability to pay rent Declines in public assistance Mental illness Domestic violence Sexual abuse Addictions and substance abuse Current Federal Programs to Address Homelessness HUD Homeless Assistance Grants Veteran Affairs homeless assistance programs Health and Human Services 15
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Rate how significant of a problem homelessness is in your community A. Minor Significance B. Significant C. Very Significant D. Extremely Significant 0% 0% 0% 0% What the City of Eugene is doing to address homelessness 17
Shelter services and rapid rehousing Overnight emergency shelter 18
Affordable housing programs Veterans housing initiatives 19
Car camping program Micro Housing Conestoga Huts 20
4Temporary rest stops Transitional housing 21
Opportunity Village EMERALD VILLAGE 22
Many people don t want services or services they need aren t available Homeless Protest Camps 23
1,500 chronically homeless people in Eugene 24
How the homeless impact Eugene s parks and public spaces Deter park users 25
Public and environmental health 26
Divert resources from other needed services Impacts on staff 27
What Parks and Open Space is doing to mitigate impacts 28
Park Rules Park hours No Camping Enforcement Exclusions Monitoring parks for illegal camps 29
Posting notices of illegal camps Clean up of illegal camps 30
Store personal belongings for 30 days Impacts to Public Space Design Almost no use of shrub beds at all in our designs. Reluctant to put in picnic shelters even though they could be a long term source of revenue and it rains here a lot. Added more lighting in some parks so people feel safer. Removed trees and shrub beds and replacing them with lawns No playgrounds with solid decks they are all mesh to provide drainage but don t create a dry and covered space either. Sometimes we put in short benches to discourage a lot of sleeping e.g. 4 or 6 instead of 8. 31
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Closed half of Scobert Garden Park 33
What are other agencies doing to mitigate homeless? Arizona State Parks jobs for homeless vets Portland Park Rangers 34
Park Activation Downtown Seattle Micro Housing 35
Converted City Buses to Mobile Shelters 36
Housing First Approach Grade your agencies level of effectiveness at addressing homelessness A. Very good B. Good C. Above average D. Need lots of work E. Almost nothing 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 37
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