Bringing Our Community Home is implementing the 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Santa Barbara County.
Plan Summary
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness’ director, Philip Mangano, visits with a formerly homeless resident of El Carrillo in Santa Barbara. Photo by Baron Spafford.
Bringing Our Community Home (BOCH) is based on a “Housing First” model. “Housing First” is an approach to ending homelessness that places a priority on helping people quickly attain permanent housing without imposing any requirements on accessing services or achieving sobriety. It recognizes that people are in a better position to address health, addiction, lack of education and job skills, and other issues that cause poverty and homelessness, once they have the stability of a safe and secure place to live. The primary goal is to move the homeless from the streets and into permanent supportive housing as quickly as possible.
Building on What We Have
Bringing Our Community Home does not advocate building a new system of care. Rather, success will be achieved through the intelligent redirection of existing resources through collaboration, and the development of new partnerships. The hallmark of this Plan is an inclusive, coordinated approach to planning, funding, and delivering housing and services to people who experience homelessness throughout Santa Barbara County.
Principal Strategies
Working together to collaborate, communicate and cooperate, we will make a significant and lasting difference guided by the four principal strategies of our 10-Year Plan:
Prevention & Intervention: Catch people at risk and stop the pattern of chronic homelessness before it begins.
Supportive Services: Provide diverse and appropriate care that meets the chronically homeless “where they are” and nurtures lasting, stable relationships.
Permanent Affordable Housing: Increase, build and preserve affordable permanent housing through recruitment, rehabilitation, new development and rental subsidies.
Economic Self-Sufficiency: Provide for long-term housing stability by increasing incomes through vocational opportunities and access to financial benefits.
In recognition of the extensive network of homeless services in Santa Barbara County, the implementation of the Plan includes exploring and creating new partnerships and collaborations with existing agencies, both private and public, to prevent the duplication of services and to avoid creating unnecessary competition for the resources available for this work.
Philip Mangano meets with BOCH board members, social service providers, local citizens and government officals, and members of the homeless community in July 2008. Photos by Baron Spafford
The Plan
Bringing Our Community Home is implementing the 10-Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness in Santa Barbara County.
Plan Summary
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness’ director, Philip Mangano, visits with a formerly homeless resident of El Carrillo in Santa Barbara. Photo by Baron Spafford.
Bringing Our Community Home (BOCH) is based on a “Housing First” model. “Housing First” is an approach to ending homelessness that places a priority on helping people quickly attain permanent housing without imposing any requirements on accessing services or achieving sobriety. It recognizes that people are in a better position to address health, addiction, lack of education and job skills, and other issues that cause poverty and homelessness, once they have the stability of a safe and secure place to live. The primary goal is to move the homeless from the streets and into permanent supportive housing as quickly as possible.
Building on What We Have
Bringing Our Community Home does not advocate building a new system of care. Rather, success will be achieved through the intelligent redirection of existing resources through collaboration, and the development of new partnerships. The hallmark of this Plan is an inclusive, coordinated approach to planning, funding, and delivering housing and services to people who experience homelessness throughout Santa Barbara County.
Principal Strategies
Working together to collaborate, communicate and cooperate, we will make a significant and lasting difference guided by the four principal strategies of our 10-Year Plan:
In recognition of the extensive network of homeless services in Santa Barbara County, the implementation of the Plan includes exploring and creating new partnerships and collaborations with existing agencies, both private and public, to prevent the duplication of services and to avoid creating unnecessary competition for the resources available for this work.
Philip Mangano meets with BOCH board members, social service providers, local citizens and government officals, and members of the homeless community in July 2008. Photos by Baron Spafford
Click here for the complete Plan and related documents.