It’s been going on for almost a year now, but there’s still work ahead.
On Sunday, a crowd of 60 people gathered in the High Desert Music Hall in Redmond to hear from organizers about the safe parking program for those living homeless in the city.
It’s a series of sites where people can park for free if they’re accepted into the program, with 11 spaces currently open across two different sites.
Since the program started last May, leaders say it’s shown some real results.
“We’ve had three people find housing since the program’s been open; I actually just had someone who’s hopefully moving into housing this upcoming week, so that’s really exciting as well,” said Sierra Hopper, a Case Manager with Mountain View Community Development. Their organization helps run the sites.
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Hopper said it takes on average six months for those in the program to move in to housing.
There’s an average of 15 people on the waitlist at any given time.
The next goal is to open 40 spaces by this summer.
Visitors were also able to ask questions to Robert Bohac and James Cook, the chairman and vice chairman of the Oasis Village Project, a proposed low-barrier shelter in the city.
