Key leaders from the city of San Bernardino’s faith-based community gathered for a meeting hosted by Board of Supervisors Vice Chair and Fifth District Supervisor Joe Baca, Jr. on Thursday, Feb. 20, to discuss critical issues surrounding housing and homelessness in San Bernardino.
The roundtable, held in partnership with the San Bernardino County Office of Homeless Services (OHS) and the San Bernardino County Community Development and Housing Department (CDH), was attended by San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran as well as pastors and leaders from Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Grace Chapel, 16th Street Seventh Day Adventist Church, the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, Mary’s Mercy Center, Faith Advisory Council for Community Transformation (FACCT), Ecclesia Christian Fellowship’s Angels of Hope program, Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church, and the San Bernardino Community Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The meeting began with an introduction from Vice Chair Baca, Jr., highlighting the challenges of addressing homelessness along with the county’s investment in affordable housing projects.
“San Bernardino County is committed to creating shelter beds and supporting affordable housing,” said Baca, Jr. “For example, in Rialto, the county provided $2.1 million as a gap fill to fund the construction of the Rialto Metroview affordable housing community. Additionally, we’re in the process of adding 30 beds to our Kern facility in Muscoy, which serves our justice-involved population aiding them with reentry into society. The challenge we face is that it takes time to develop affordable housing and add more shelter beds. It can take five to ten years to complete one project.”
Mayor Tran also echoed her commitment to addressing homelessness and spoke about the challenges of addressing the issue.
“For cities like San Bernardino, we are absolutely committed,” said Tran. “San Bernardino makes up the largest number of homeless in the county, and we are taking action to address this issue. It’s not an easy fix, and it is a slow process. But with partners such as the county and faith community we can get there.”
Following remarks from Baca, Jr. and Tran, CDH Director Carrie Harmon and OHS Chief Marcus Dillard provided an update on what they’re doing to tackle homelessness and increase shelter beds and affordable housing in San Bernardino.
Harmon began with sharing details about her experience working with homeless vets and the support she received from the faith-based community.
“Twenty years ago, when I was working with Veterans Affairs, there were hardly any shelters in Southern California,” said Harmon. “When I had a veteran who was ready for treatment and needed a safe place to stay for the night, I would go to churches, and they never turned any of our veterans away. Not only did my veterans get a place to stay for the night, but they also got a hot meal and a lot of love. In addition to helping us develop shelters and affordable housing, I think the faith-based community provides the pathway for someone’s dignity to be restored. I can bring millions of dollars together to build an apartment community or shelter, but community providers and the faith-based community play a vital role in breathing life into folks who have had a hard journey.”
She went on to discuss the county’s current housing projects and plans to expand existing housing developments. She talked about Pacific Village, a 28-bed interim housing project in San Bernardino that was funded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She’s currently working on Phase II of the campus, which is set to begin construction in summer 2025.
“Phase II will include 58 permanent supportive housing units for individuals with a disability, an on-site substance-use treatment center with 16 beds, and 32 recuperative beds for people who are leaving a hospital,” said Harmon.
CDH has also partnered with the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino on the development of Arrowhead Grove, which replaces Waterman Gardens, a housing community that served the city of San Bernardino for over 70 years before it was demolished.
Harmon closed by saying her goal is to expand shelter capacity countywide. She will continue to look for areas that have a shelter deficit and have a high number of unsheltered individuals. She made a commitment to work with cities to develop innovative ways to make shelter beds available as quickly as possible.
Dillard shared that when he came into his position as OHS chief in 2023, his focus was on expanding homeless outreach efforts, cultivating relationships with cities and service providers, and investing in the county’s Coordinated Entry System (CES), which is a tool that can be used to connect homeless individuals to housing resources. Now, Dillard is working on some innovative solutions to place individuals into housing.
“We are getting ready to launch HUG, which is Housing the Unhoused Gateway,” said Dillard. “This program will allow individuals who are homeless to go through a portal and request help and a team will be dispatched to support them. In addition, we are adding kiosks in the community to allow individuals to request shelter beds and complete their certification for Medi-Cal benefits.”
Dillard also mentioned securing Encampment Resolution Funding from the state to begin homeless outreach efforts near Del Rosa Avenue in San Bernardino. He’s working on providing essential resources such as bi-weekly showers and laundry services, while also securing 50 units for homeless individuals in that area.
Following Dillard’s remarks, pastors and leaders shared their experience with the unhoused community and opportunities for the county to collaborate.
Pastor Ray Turner of Temple Missionary Baptist Church suggested that local government and the faith-based community should focus on preventative measures when addressing homelessness.
“We spend a lot of time, money and energy addressing the homeless problem, but have we taken time to interview some of the homeless individuals to find out how they got there in the first place?” said Turner. “We are seeing more people enter the streets daily, so we need to look at how we can identify those who are at-risk of becoming homeless and put more resources on that end.”
San Bernardino County Assistant Executive Officer Diane Rundles, who oversees CDH and OHS, agreed with his point and confirmed that the county is looking for ways to enhance its services and develop programming to prevent homelessness. Harmon suggested that churches can collaborate with the county by identifying church members who need resources, so the county can connect them to the support they need.
John Andrews, the vice chancellor and director of communications for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino, said we need to change the narrative surrounding homelessness.
“As we see more people entering the streets, they can become demonized,” said Andrews. “As part of our responsibility as people of faith, our job is to present a different narrative. When you put a human face on a problem that’s affecting a lot of people, it makes individuals more compassionate and less inclined to demonize, which unfortunately is a real problem right now.”
Rundles said she appreciated his comments and shared that the county is actively working on a profile series to show the many faces of homelessness, including those who may have lost their job and fell behind in rent, or older adults who can’t work anymore and don’t make enough money from Social Security to keep a roof over their heads.
Lastly, Dan Flores, executive director of Mary’s Mercy Center, emphasized that community support is the ultimate solution to homelessness.
“You can put someone in a beautiful apartment and watch them either walk out or invite all their friends, and all of a sudden there’s eight or nine people living in that apartment, and it’s not so beautiful anymore,” said Flores. “You just housed them, but they’re still homeless, they’re just homeless indoors. This is because they have not changed those fundamental things about who they are. That only comes from community. When you give someone a door, you’re only furthering their isolation. At Mary’s Mercy Center, they must live in a community with 15 or 20 other people. They’re eating, praying and working together, which builds a sense of community and ensures accountability.”
County officials acknowledged the challenges and opportunities voiced by the pastors and faith leaders and reinforced their commitment to addressing the issue of homelessness. Baca, Jr. closed the roundtable by reviewing some of the milestones achieved in addressing the problem.
“Over the last few years, we’ve made significant progress,” said Baca, Jr. “We will continue to do our part, but government can’t do it alone. We need the support of our faith-based groups and community partners to make a difference.”
Baca, Jr. said he hopes to host a larger symposium on homelessness in the future, so the county can continue exploring potential solutions.
For more information about how the county is addressing homelessness, please visit sbchp.sbcounty.gov/.
Additional County Update News – Feb. 27, 2025
- County details disaster response enhancements
- Board actions – Feb. 25, 2025
- Outreach team provides behavioral health support for Ontario residents
- County’s Emprendedor@s program claims CSAC award
- New Animal Incident Tracker enhances public safety and response
- Remembering the first African American teacher in San Bernardino County, Dorothy Ella Inghram
- In-N-Out burger Cover to Cover Reading Program returns
- San Bernardino County destinations: Vivian Creek Trail
- Call for submissions: Share your favorite San Bernardino County destinations
- San Bernardino County history: Slover Mountain
- Things to do in San Bernardino County
- Pet of the Week: Ferdinand
- Jobs of the week