As Konkel put it, “There was such a buildup and need of people who were chronically homeless that we would be putting people with very high needs in one place, making it difficult to manage without sufficient services.”
“It’s the best plan I’ve seen in 20 years,” said former City Council member and homeless advocate Brenda Konkel. “It’s the most significant in investment of money. It’s helping lower-income people, specifically the homeless. And it includes housing first and harm reduction (service models).
“The housing that [the city] is building is just completely unaffordable,” said Konkel. As a result, homeless people are forced to take refuge in temporary housing shelters. But once time allotments run out they return to the streets where they are subject to police fines. “What we’re trying to do is break that circle,” she said.
