Dear Placer County Supervisors,

I am signing this letter from The Gathering Inn to express my support for the Campus of Hope project located at 4242 Cincinnati Ave in the unincorporated Sunset Industrial Park area.

As an organization dedicated to improving the well-being of those who are experiencing homelessness, I support their Campus of Hope project that will more effectively meet the unique needs of families and individuals in our community needing Emergency and Supportive Housing.

It has been over 18 years since our county performed the first point-in-time count that identified the number of homeless in our community. The crisis has only intensified in the years since. I am deeply concerned about marginalized groups in our community facing a dire housing situation and especially concerned about people experiencing homelessness.

In our community housing has been identified as a critical need. The shortage of emergency and supportive housing is at a crisis level as overcrowding is rampant and homelessness pronounced.  It will be unlikely that private housing construction alone will be able to effect any change in the near future. Although the county and cities are striving to increase the development of housing, the current and historic economic and political reality is that there is difficulty siting emergency and supportive housing to meet the need.

Thus, the need to reduce homelessness must be addressed by a local government-non-profit partnership. It is with this “common-sense” approach that I ask you to support The Gathering Inn and the Campus of Hope and immediately invest in this long-term and cost-savings solution for the residents of our local community that are experiencing homelessness.