‘Devastating’ Hunger and Homelessness Impacts Worry Humboldt Supes, NGOs

Proclaiming Nov. 16 to 23 Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors updated a situation described as a crisis that the state and the county are increasingly left to deal with on their own.

The persistent issues of food and housing insecurity – and forecasts of harder times ahead – were discussed by supervisors at their Nov. 18 meeting. They approved a proclamation that says 18 percent of the county’s residents are below the poverty rate and 16.7 percent “face food insecurity.”

The proclamation encourages the community to work on addressing “the shortage of affordable housing for low income residents and to encourage support for the organizations committed to sheltering, providing supportive services.”

One of those organizations is Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives and its president, Nezzie Wade, is concerned about continued loss of federal support.

Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives President Nezzie Wade [Screenshot from this week’s video of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting]

“The figures for homelessness and hunger are staggering and the prospects for our future with respect to budget cuts and things that we’re facing now based on federal dollars make it look pretty bleak,” she said.

With the challenges getting more intense, Wade said the state “needs to invest more in housing,” as less than 2 percent of its general fund is spent on it.

On the local front, Wade called for formation of a hunger and homelessness task force.

Supervisor Steve Madrone noted that the board decided not to adopt an anti-camping law at a previous meeting and instead a majority of supervisors voted to form a “compassionate assistance” committee to strategize ways to help people.

But it will be difficult without help from higher authorities like the federal government.

Carly Robbins of the Food for People foodbank said the recent interruption of food stamp funding had profound impact and changes will continue — for the worse.

Food for People Executive Director Carly Robbins [Screenshot from this week’s video of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting]

“Frankly, this has been a challenging year for anyone doing food security work,” she said. “From the cuts we’ve seen to just the last few weeks, of folks losing benefits, it’s been pretty dramatic and I really only see it going farther in that direction.”

Upcoming federal policy changes will have “significant impacts on how supplemental nutrition assistance programs are administered and who’s eligible,” she continued, adding, “ultimately, it’s going to kick people off of the program and that’s going to put more burden on food banks, food pantries, and NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) doing this kind of work.”

Supervisor Michelle Bushnell credited the work of housing and food programs in Southern Humboldt’s remote communities but said people are struggling and “the anxiety now is just astronomical.”

Robert Ward, the county’s housing assistance coordinator, gave an update on federal-level funding, which is shifting away from permanent supportive housing.

Supervisor Natalie Arroyo summed it up by saying “a really large percentage of our funding is at risk” for permanent supportive housing. “If we lose funding for that, that means we’ll have a lot more people unhoused who can’t otherwise be housed in a stable way, so I’m worried about that,” she continued. “I’m deeply worried about that because just because we currently see people on the street, that doesn’t mean our programs aren’t serving other people who aren’t on the street, so we have a lot of people who would, I think, become homeless.”

The most strongly-worded statement was made by Supervisor Mike Wilson. He described federal housing-related funding changes as “catastrophic” and said the federal administration’s efforts to “block” food assistance funding demonstrates bad intent.

Humboldt County Supervisor Mike WIlson [Screenshot from this week’s video of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting]

“When you work to harm millions of people with no reason, the conclusion is obvious that cruelty is the point – make no mistake, we see it, it’s right in front of our eyes,” he said.

Adding that “the government claims it cannot afford to house homeless veterans and feed hungry children, yet found trillions in tax cuts benefiting the wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations,” Wilson said the federal government is carrying out “deliberate infliction of suffering for political purposes.”

Prefacing his comments, he said, “We recognize that this is hunger and homeless awareness week but there is a larger crisis unfolding in real time, and it’s going to have devastating consequences on our most vulnerable people.”