Homeless Action Sonoma gets $400K boost from county

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors awarded $400,000 to Homeless Action Sonoma (HAS), which will use the funds to pay for an 18-unit tiny home village in Boyes Hot Springs.

The funds are part of $2 million that the board of supervisors has distributed to five projects throughout the county for organizations that address homelessness. HAS is ready to build, after securing a piece of land at 18820 Highway 12, next to Baker & Cook.

“We’re putting (tiny homes) on the property and we’re hoping to have people sheltered by Christmas if possible,” HAS’s founder Annie Falandes said. “These county grants are very difficult to even fill out the application. But the county was amazing trying to help us.”

The $400,000 will aid the long-term goals of HAS to create a permanent shelter that, once completed, will serve about 40 homeless residents in Sonoma Valley. She is hoping to get the first round of shelters up quickly, as the increasingly cold weather adds an extra need for shelter services. Known as QuickHaven shelters, the design can be constructed in as little as two hours. They expect the 18 tiny homes will sleep 22 people, complete with water, electricity and sewer.

Falandes said in a press release the funding is “not what we need to get the job done for a year, but enough to get us going as we look for more funding.” She held another fundraiser Thursday night, the results of which were not available at press time. HAS is also applying for Homekey funding, a $2.75 billion project launched by the state to end homelessness.

If things fall the right way, Falandes said HAS will have a complete and permanent shelter built by next December. The plan to model it after the highly successful Homeward Bound of Marin.

“They have an 88% success rate” of eventually moving people into permanent housing situations, Falandes said in November. “We have found that treating people as human beings and giving them an opportunity to express their wishes, it opens their hearts and makes them dare to want to succeed.”

Sonoma’s other homeless advocates, Sonoma Overnight Support (SOS), offers meals, showers, laundry and safe parking, but does not include longterm shelter services in Sonoma. It provides hotel vouchers and placement at facilities outside the area, like COTS in Petaluma or the Los Guilicos shelter in Oakmont.

As most of the homeless in Sonoma are from the Valley, Falandes has long advocated the importance of keeping unsheltered people close to their community and support systems. She’s eager to build a place for them in Boyes Hot Springs.

Contact Chase Hunter at chase.hunter@sonomanews.com and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.