The interfaith group based in Anaheim has now worked for over a year to urge the Anaheim City Council to pass the 5 Year Homeless and At-Risk Initiative, a policy document written and developed entirely by the group.  The plan makes 15 policy recommendations to the council, including the creation of a Homeless Outreach Team that teams mental health clinicians and PD, the creation of a ‘safe haven’ for the provision of services, and the construction of a multi-service center with resources and housing for people experiencing homelessness.  The Task Force has taken Mayor Tom Tait and City Councilmembers Galloway and Eastman to visit the PATH Mall in LA, and the group continues to speak at council meetings to ask the council to work with the Task Force to pass the plan.
 
Check out www.anaheimptf.org or contact Kerry at (714) 612-5028 or kerry@occcopico.org for more info.  

On Tuesday, March 8, at Anaheim City Hall, ten members of the Poverty Task Force (PTF) spoke, each for three minutes, consecutively, in favor of the Anaheim Initiative for the Anaheim Homeless and At-Risk Initiative (AHAI).

AHAI is a five-year plan to address homelessness in the City of Anaheim. It offers specific, achievable recommendations to provide coordinated support, shelter, and services for Anaheim’s growing homeless population.

One member of PTF shared some data about how much the city’s police and fire departments spent in 2010 interacting with homeless persons - the total was over $500,000.

Learn more about PTF at www.povertytaskforce.org. Contact Kerry Gallagher for more info: 714-612-5028

For the past two years, the Poverty Task Force of Anaheim - an entity co-led by OCCCO and CLUE Orange County - has been working hard to address the issue of homelessness in Orange County.

In Ahaheim, over 42,000 residents live under the Federal Poverty Level and 83% of Anaheim students are eligible for free or reduced lunches.  The motel family crisis in Anaheim is well documented.

At a recent rally at Anaheim City Hall, the Poverty Task Force presented a 5-year plan to address homelessness to Councilwoman Lorri Galloway.  She agreed to work with us to pass this plan for services, shelter, and support to Anaheim's homeless.

Contact Kerry for more info: 714-612-5028.